RWBY: The Journey Home
by Darkus Cyril
Summary: After finally defeating Cinder, Team RWBY is suddenly scattered throughout the Mass Effect galaxy. Now, with the help of Commander John Shepard they will need to unite to get home again. But how will they cope with an entire galactic community that is vastly different from anything they know, and a powerful force that even threatens their home? Ladybug, John/Yang, Kaiden/Weiss
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with a Mass Effect RWBY crossover, I got the insiration for this story from the stories 'Remnant's Reclaimer' by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks, and 'Dust Effect' by Kriss1989, they're good stories, I definitely recommend them. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the story, it takes place in ME2, but after the Freedom's Progress mission instead of going to Afterlife, Shepard recieved Hacket's message about meeting with the Council from Joker and, after recruiting Zaeed, immediantly went to the Citadel where he recruited Kasumi.**

 **Now, before I do the disclaimers, I wanted to apologise for the lack of delays, my usb with my stories on it has gone missing and I've been looking for it every now and then the past few weeks(I can't look 24/7 because I have work and a cat to take care of), so this story was one I rewrote since I only had one chapter of it. So again, I apologise and I hope you enjoy the story**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect. Also I don't own the idea for the plot of the beginning of the story nor the idea for the appearance of adult Ruby(mainly her having an eye patch), those belong to Hysterical Clerical Hijinks.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

The kingdom of Vale was burning. Building were in shambles, hotels were in ruins, shops were nothing but dist and rubble. Grimm infested the streets, attacking and feasting on Humans and Faunus. All while this was happening, a war was being waged in the very same kingdom.A war that was led and started by an insane woman, desiring to control or wipe out Vale from the face of Remnant. This woman was Cinder Fall, a brillant, if slightly unstable, woman who manipulated the people of the kingdom like pieces on a chess board. However, despite everything, there was still resistance towards her, and it cost her her three most powerful generals, the thief Emerald Sustrai, Emerald's partner Mercury Black, and Roman's protege-turned traitor, Neopolitan(I think Neo is cool, so I just wanted her to be good). This all occured because of four girls, whom were simply huntresses-in-training when she first made her move.

They were Ruby Rose, age 25, now known as the Crimson Reaper because of her mastery of her High Impact Sniper-Scythe and her crimson red hood. Ruby wore the same attire she wore when she, her team, and two huntsmen-in-training from Mistral, faced Roman in the recently 'obtained' Atlesian Paladin. However, her cloak was no longer a rose red but now a deep, almost blood red. She altered the skirt to be slightly longer, the formerly light grey undershirt was now dark grey, and the metal insgnia on her left shoulder was now present on the right as well. Her calm, beautiful face was marred only by a large eyepatch on her left eye, caused by Emerald during their last fight, which was silver and had a black rose on it.

Wiess Schnee, age 27, The Ice Queen, who's cold attitude and impressive skills with her Dust Rapier, Myrtenaster, made her a force to not be underestimated. She wore a long, snowy white and icy blue combat dress that flowed when she moved, making her appear to dance as she fought. Her Myrtenaster was a few inches longer, and had delicate carvings along the blade, which helped channel her Dust spells as well as a larger Dust chamber so she wouldn't run out very quickly.

The third was Blake Belladonna, age 27, who was known simply as The Shadow, with her weapon, Gambol Shroud, one of the few weapons in existance to possess more than two forms(one Melee and one Ranged). She wore a grey body suit which had flexible sheets of metal embued with Earth Dust to enhance it's durability and offer more protection while remaining light and flexible.

And finally the last but one of the most troublesome for her, Yang Xiao Long, age 27 and older half-sister of Ruby Rose, known as the Hell Fire by the White Fang, but the Gold Dragon by her comrades. She wore the same attire as when she along with the rest of Team RWBY fought Roman in the Paladin, however, she replaced the purple scarf with her classic orange scarf, calling it her lucky scarf. She also adjusted the outfit to show off her cleavage some more since it proved to distract the male, and some female, members of the White Fang.

When together, these four were known as Team RWBY. One of the best teams to ever come out of Beacon Academy, next to them were team CFVY, and team JNPR.

Cinder stopped walking, Roman behind her as he narrowed his eyes, gripping his Melodic Cudgel in preparation. Before them, was team RWBY, all six of them beign ignored by the fighting going on around them, even the Grimm surprisingly. Cinder growled and sneered,

"Why do you constantly interfere with my plans? Just DIE Dust damn it!" Cinder thrust her arms forward, releasing ignited fire dust. However, Yang jumped forward, her enhanced Ember Cecilia extending, covering her entire forearm, and blocked the fire with her semblance's side effect of being totally fire proof. Ruby leapt over her step-sister, her enhanced Crecent Rose extending fully to reveal the serrated blade embedded with Occilation Dust. She, along with Weiss, leapt towards Roman, while Blake and Yang leapt towards Cinder, all of them ready for the final battle that would determine the fate of the kingdom of Vale.

Ruby and Weiss were a blur of red and white. However, Roman was holding them off, if only barely. He used his Melodic Cudgel quite well to deflect Weiss' Myrtenaster, and to tear up the area around him to try and make it difficult for Ruby to get to him with her Semblence, which was unsuccessful, only giving her more places to angle and modify her trajectory. Yang and Blake were attacking from multiple angles against Cinder, but they didn't use their ranged weapons, as they would be useless against Cinder's Dust Manipulation Semblance. This was Ruby's plan, the two most likely to push back the leader and her second-in-command were teamed against each one, Yang for Cinder, and Weiss for Roman, however, upon reaching a certain point Ruby and Blake would swap and finish the two off.

However, despite Yang's immunity to fire, Cinder was still proving difficult with her Dust weapons and the use of glass Dust and various other elements she had on hand or took from anyone nearby. Despite Cinder's best efforts however, Yang and Blake only took minor hits and continued to push her back. Suddenly, Ruby pulled back as did Blake,

"Ashes and Sunrise!" Before the two criminals knew what happened, Roman was moving as fast as he could to block both Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud while Cinder was ducking and weaving to avoid Crescent Rose and Ember Cecilia.

Roman was having a much more difficult time, Blake knew his combat style fairly well now, since they have fought several times. He continued fighting, however, and shot a burst of Blast Dust at her, only for her to use her semblance to dodge. Suddenly Roman was stabbed in the gut from behind. He looked down and saw Myrtenaster piercing through his stomach before he was pierced through the skull and heart by Gambol Shroud. Blake pulled her weapons out of Roman and Weiss did the same before freezing him and shattering the ice, just to make sure he was dead and not faking it in some way.

Meanwhile Cinder was being pushed back, Ruby was aware of every move the Dust user made, simply because of her semblance's speed making the world around her seem to slow when it was used. However, due to the Dust imbued within the blade of her Crescent Rose, Cinder could tell where she was as well. But that didn't meant she was fast enough so Cinder still wound up getting a few gashes. Suddenly, Yang threw a punch when Cinder wasn't looking and shot one of her shells of modified Explosion Dust, altered with a vial of raw Fire Dust to destablize it and make the explosion more powerful. This shot hit the ground right at Cinder's feet when she wasn't paying attention to Yang herself, and pushed her back a few feet while also making a massive smokescreen.

Cinder was in the smoke, coughing, when she felt a massive pain in her chest. She looked down to see the hyper-vibrating blade sliding trough her chest, shredding her heart to pieces as it went through. Suddenly the blade was yanked out and Cinder fell to her knees just as the smoke was cleared from Ruby's semblance making a silent shockwave that blew it away. Ruby instantly collapsed Crescent Rose down and watched with one cold silver eye as Cinder feel to her knees, grasping at her chest where she was stabbed. Weiss, Yang, and Blake walked over, their weapons holstered And they looked at Cinder before looking at each other, and smiling softly. Ruby sighed and smiled a bit more,

"We finally did it, now we just need to clear Vale of the Grimm and of the White Fang then we can go back to having peace." Cinder suddenly looked up and was sneering at them,

"If I can't win, I'll at least take you all down with me!" Suddenly they noticed her eyes glowing and her boddy was suddenly surrounded by a glyph. Weiss went wide-eyed,

"A m-mass Suicide spell?! I thought those were lost centuries ago! There's no way we'll get away in time!" Ruby simply frowned and shook her head,

"Come on, grab a hold of me, I'll get us out of here."

"What? Ruby, even at your maximum speed you wouldn't be able to outrun this spell!" Ruby smirked slightly,

"Then I'll just have to break my promise and do something very stupid." the three went silent, tryng to figure out what she meant. Suddenly Weiss went wide-eyed, remembering the promise Ruby had made to them,

"Ruby no! You don't know what'll happen to you if you overcharge your semblance, it could tear your body apart from the sheer force of the speed you'd be running at!" Yang and Blake went wide-eyed as well, while Ruby shook her head,

"Not like we have much of a choice, now grab on AND LET'S GO!" She turned and got ready to run, her body glowing a rose red as she built up her Aura, but luckily everyone managed to grab on before she took off and were dragged with her. The world was a blur as Ruby ran, the rest of her team were wondering how she was moving with the three of them holding on, when a sudden explosion of blue-white fire was released, however, it didn't do what Weiss expected. Rather than expanding in a dome-shaped explosion, it seemed to follow them.

'It must be because of Ruby, she's running so fast she made a vortex that sucked up the fire and now it's following us!' Suddenly Ruby's aura flared up again as the flames drew closer and suddenly the world seemed to run like wet paint at how fast they were traveling. Everyone, minus Ruby, looked back and saw the flames catching up, regardless of Ruby's speed. However, when it reached them, something happened. The flames started churning and flowing around them before they were somehow absorbed by Ruby, who's Aura took on a purple hue from the mixing of her red aura and the white-blue flames. As this happened, the world around them seemed to fade and turn white.

Everyone, minus Ruby were looking around in shock, was Ruby running so fast that light and colors were starting to bleed together forming a perfectly white environment around them? Suddenly there was a loud shattering sound and the three looked forward to see an area ahead of them shatter before revealing a void that seemed to be made up of static, the edges flashing various colors randomly. Ruby, who's eyes were closed to keep her eyes intact from the g-forces pressed on her from her speed, ran directly into it, but when she was fully in it, she found there was no ground and all four just fell and were separated by a sudden stop as the void closed behind them and the world returned to normal, only a large scorched trench in the ground showing they had passed through.

 **Omega...**

Mordin Solus was working in his clinic. He was mixing serums together to cure an artificial plague that was released in the slums of the asteroid city. He was testing his latest concoction on a sample of infected Batarian blood. To his joy, it worked, just like it had on the Turian, Krogan, Asari, Hanar, Elcor, and Salarian blood samples,

"Good, cure effective, now, to distribute, but how... environmentals, no no no, too dangerous, under Blood Pack control-" Suddenly a loud shattering sound was heard outside the clinic. Mordin pulled out a Carnifex pistol and ran out to make sure no more Blue Suns members coming to force some 'protection money' from his clinic. Instead, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a shattered hole in thin air. It was filled with a static void and the edges glowed various colors, shifting between them quickly. He blinked his large black eyes as a figure suddenly came into view and began to slowly slide of the void as if falling. Mordin saw the figure was a young woman, apparently around the age of 25. She had a large silver eyepatch covering her left eye and was wearing a crimson colored cloak with a hood. He then noticed her disheveled appearance as if she was in battle recently.

He put away his pistol when he noticed she was unconscious. He moved quickly and caught her, but a sudden weight was felt and he nearly dropped her. Upon inspection, the weight appeard to have been from a large red, black, silver device on the back of her waist, connected by what appeared to be a set of megnetic strips. He picked her up, adjusting to compensate her weight and called for assistance in carrying her into the clinic.

 **Illium...**

An Asari by the name of Liara T'soni was busy typing away at her console. She was searching for data on Shadow Broker agents to track him down, unfortunately, with little success. Suddenly a loud shattering sound was heard in front of her in the mostly sound-proof room. Liara looked up in shock, seeing a void appear in front of her, filled with a static-like background, Suddenly a young woman slowly fell through the void. Liara caught her in a biotic levitation and gently lowered her to the floor. At first glance, the woman appeared human, but upon closer inspection, the bow on her head concealed a secondary set of ears, feline, like Earth cats, if she wasn't mistaken. Liara was curious but her concern for the injured woman overwrote that concern, even after all this time she was still the same soft girl at heart.

Liara shook her head to clear these thoughts and activated her Omni-tool to contact her personal, and most trusted, medic to come and help the woman. She took the time during the wait to inspect the woman again. She had long, wavy black hair and pale, smooth skin. However, aside from that and her ears, she was covered in cuts and her body suit seemed to be giving off an unknown energy that her Omni-tool couldn't identify. Another thing she noticed was a handle behind her shoulder. It was connected to a grey sword but what was unusual was the sheathe for the sword had a hole big enough for a hand to fit and was close to the edge to be gripped and had an edge showing the sheathe could double as a sword and at the end was a ribbon tied to it. However, the oddest thing was the shape of the grip and guard of the sword.

It looked like the handle of a gun. There was even a trigger, but why would a sword need that, there wasn't even any place for a gun muzzle. While Liara contemplated this, Nixarus, her secretary, contacted her to let her know the medic had arrived. Liara confirmed and allowed their entry. After telling them to keep this private and to watch over the woman carefully, the medics took the woman out, through an alternate entrance to prevent anyone from noticing.

 **Horizon...**

On the colony of Horizon, many people were moving back and forth from different places, going about their business. Near the edge of the colony, a massive GARDIAN cannon was being set up. With rumors of entire human colonies vanishing, the Alliance set out to give the colonies that remained a defense. Of course many remote colonies attempted to refuse, having gone to them to escape the influence of the Alliance, believing the Alliance was just trying to control them, not protect them. In the middle of the base was one Alliance marine, Kaiden Alenko, was walking around to make sure nothing was going wrong with the set up of the Anti-Aircraft cannon. He sighed as he saw the looks of mistrust or even outright hatred for himself. He was just following orders, and he did want to protect the colonies, the things he's seen while working under Commander Shepard proved that the colonies, the entire galaxy even, was in danger.

He looked and saw the only face that wasn't scowling or glaring at him, a woman named Lilith. She knew he was only following orders and wanted to help protect them, but she never could convince the others, so she stayed nearby to defuse any situations. Lilith walked up to Kaiden,

"So, anything out of the ordinary?" Kaiden shook his head, sighing,

"No, nothing at all aside from the usual, busy colonists taking time out of their day to tell me how they think the Alliance is trying to control every aspect of their lives." Lilith put a hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sorry, but many people are stuck in this belief that everything wrong is the Alliance's fault." Kaiden shook his head,

"I know, when I was working with Commander Shepard, I saw people, both human and alien, who had similar thoughts, and nothing could be done to change their minds. I just have to accept this and let them think what they want. But when those cannons save their lives, they'll eventually come around and see that the Alliance isn't corrupt like they believe it is." Lilith nodded,

"I certainly hope s-" Suddenly there was a loud shattering sound coming from around the corner, near one of the established 'parks' of the colony. Kaiden drew his Avenger assault rifle and rushed forward, motioning Lilith to stay behind him. He turned the corner and saw a group of colonists staring at what appeared to be a crack in the air, it seemed to be about 5 feet in diameter and the inside was filled with a static-like background. The edges of the void glowed various colors, shifting between the colors quickly. Kaiden shouted everyone to get back, and as he rushed forward, they all saw a figure suddenly appear and slowly fall out, groaning in pain. The figure was a very pale young woman with platinum blonde hair done in an off-center ponytail. She wore a dress that shifted from snowy white to icy blue. On her hip was a beautiful rapier, with an odd guard that looked almost like a chamber of early 21st century revolver guns but the sides were clear, showing what appeared to be a substance which had a different color in each one.

The girl fell through the void, which sealed up behind her, and Kaiden dropped his gun and rushed up to catch her. The woman opened her eyes for a moment, showing icy blue eyes before she passed out. Kaiden looked down at her, noticing the scar on her eye. He looked up and called out,

"Hey, someone get a medic, this woman looks like she's pretty beaten up." Several colonists rushed to get medics while the others watched. That day, many colonists had chaanged their opinion of Kaiden, not the Alliance, just Kaiden himself since he was the one to rush forward to help the woman who appeared from thin air.

 **The Citadel, Human Embassies Council chambers...**

Four people were standing in the council chambers, three more were there in the form of holographic communication system. The four physically present were Human Council member David Anderson, a dark skinned man with large ears and a kind yet firm expression, Kasumi Goto, a petite Asian kleptomaniac, Zaeed Massani, a mercenary, and Commander John Shepard, Alliance Infiltrator and member of the Council's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, or Spectres as they were known as by the population.

The members there via Holograms were the counilors for the Turians, Sparatus, the Asari, Tevos, and the Salarians, Valern. The alien councilors had just restored Shepard's Spectre status and Anderson was now discussing what Shepard would do in the Terminus Systems. As they were discussing a loud shattering sound was heard directly behind them and Zaeed and Kasumi both pulled out their weapons and pointed at what they all saw was a crack in the air, filled with what looked like static and multicolored edges that shifted between colors. Then everyone looked on in shock as a figure of a young woman, who looked about 27 years old, slowly fall through the crack. Shepard ran forward as the woman fell through entirely and caught her as she fell. The crack then sealed up and everyone looked at the woman, she had long hair that seemed like waves of molten gold, showing she took care of her appearance, and was covered in cuts and bruises as well as having a few small scars on her, but the scars did nothing to take away the beauty she held, if anything, it made her seem more real. Suddenly the Asari councilor called out,

"Anderson, what has happened?" Valern was typing on his Omni-tool and pulled out a recording of what had happened just moments ago for them to watch. They were all shocked at the sight and Sparatus looked at them,

"Who is this human? How did she just appear out of thin air?" Anderson looked back but was interrupted by John,

"We'll figure it out later, right now, we need to get this woman some medical attention!" Sparatus was about to make a comment but was signalled by Tevos and Valern to stay silent. Tevos looked at the Human Councilor,

"Get the woman medical attention, we will all meet at the hospital to question the woman. We will not be forceful, from the state she seems to be in, it's obvious this journey she made was not a willing one." Anderson nodded and activated his Omni-tool and called for medics to take the blande woman to the hospital.

* * *

 **And there's chapter one, I had this already typed out but like I said before, I lost my USB with all my stories, so I've been trying to recreate what I've lost until I manage to find it again. So as you can see, I was heavily inspired by 'Remnant Reclaimer' and 'Dust Effect'. I do NOT own the plot ideas of those stories, the respective authors do, if I did, I probably wouldn't be able to come up with anything as good as they have. It's just a shame they don't seem to be updating anymore.**

 **Anyways, see you later readers,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the next chapter for my Mass Effect/RWBY crossover, this chapter will focus on Yang, with a portion showing Ruby waking up, and will lead up to Yang and Shepard's team going to Omega to up with Aria T'loak to find Archangel, Mordin, and, of course, Ruby. I hope you all enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans, also I learned that Vol. 3 comes out Oct. 24th, I'm definitely looking forward to that) nor do I own Mass Effect. Also I don't own the idea for the plot of the beginning of the story nor the idea for the appearance of adult Ruby(mainly her having an eye patch), those belong to Hysterical Clerical Hijinks.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Yang groaned as she slowly woke up. She felt softness underneath her and figured she was on a bed, alive, either that or on a cloud in heaven or whatever it was that happened after death. Yang groaned again as she felt a spike of pain. Oh yeah, she's definitely still alive. Yang's eyes shot open and she saw she was in some strange hospital room, but her mind never registered that as she knew if she were alive, then the others should be too, maybe even Ruby had survived. Oum above she hoped her little sister survived. She looked around but saw she was in a single room, no one else around. She grew tense when she noticed the room more closely. The tech looked more advanced than anything she'd ever seen. And she along with the rest of the Team had gone to Atlas, the most advanced city on the face of Remnant itself, for physical check-ups after a hunt for Ursi and Boarbatusks outside the city and none of their tech even came close to some of this.

She grew more tense when she saw the door, it had not visible doorknob, but she supposed the holographic circle in the center of the door was like a button. But that didn't make sense, Holograms coldn't be interacted with, like the street lights in the safe havens of the world, they were there, but you could pass right through them and disrupt the holographic generator temporarily. That effectively ruled out any place on Remnant she knew of, so where was she, and more importantly, was her team here with her? She jerked when the door chimed and the holographic panel vanished. The door opened and a man walked in holding a... clipboard? No, it was probably some form of tablet, most likely with her medical information on it. He looked up and blinked,

"You're awake? With your injuries, it should've been almost a week before you woke up, not just five hours." Yang blinked and narrowed her eyes, tensing and getting ready to activate her Ember Cecilia,

"Who are you and where am I? Where's my team?" The man looked confused,

"Oh, my name is Doctor Richard Mendel, as for where you are, your in the Careon Hospital just outside of the Presidium." Seeing Yang's confused expression, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head,

"First time to the Citadel? Well, don't worry, it can be more than a little overwhelming for anyone on their first visit here." The door suddenly opened up again and three men walked in. One in a strange, yet awesome, armor, clearly a soldier, and the other two in strange, yet fancy, clothes. Politicians? Yang shook her head as the dark skinned man spoke up,

"Hello there, you gave us all quite a startle, arriving the way you did." Yang raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes,

"What do you mean?" The other man, whom she too an immediate disliking to because of his narrowed, overly suspicious eyes, and apparent dislike towards her,

"What the Coucilor means is you suddenly appearing in the middle of one of his meetings with the other council members, possibly jepordizing our position in the galactic community." Yang rolled her eyes and stood up before she cracked her neck and looked at the one soldier directly in the eyes, him staring right back and he smirked,

"Commander John Shepard, Council Spectre, the two men with me are Councilor David Anderson, and his assistant, Donnel Udina." Yang shook his hand firmly and smirk,

"Yang Xiao Long, Huntress of Vale, and a general of the Valian army." John looked confused,

"Valian?" Yang nodded,

"Yea, you know, Vale, one of the four kingdoms of Vytal? What, were you all living under a rock your entire lives?" John looked at Anderson who shrugged,

"What planet is Vytal? I've never heard of it, and what kind of planet has the ability to teleport members of their armed forces?" Yang blinked,

"Planet? Vytal is the name of our continent, the world is called Remnant, how can you guys not know this... unless... no way... don't tell me, did my little sister run so fast that we TELEPORTED TO ANOTER WORLD!? Oh dear Monty above, what have we gotten ourselves into this time." John, Anderson, Udina, and Richard all looked at each other before focusing on the blonde woman in front of them,

"Um, do you mind explaining what you mean by that?" Yang looked back and nodded, a bit sheepishly,

"Oh yea, another world, that's right. Well, on Remnant, a special group of people known as Huntsmen and Huntresses possess the ability to use our Aura, a manifestation of our souls, to grant us unique abilities, known as a Semblance. This ability is unique for everyone, even twins will have differences in their Semblance, sure in families these semblances may be similar, but they will always be unique to each person. For example, my little sister, has a speed Semblance, a side effect of this semblance is she leaves rose petals when she uses it a lot. Mine however, is Damage Absorbtion and Fire Manipulation and resistance to any and all forms of fire, even pure magma." This bit got everyone to go wide-eyed, making Yang chuckle, "Yep, I'm so badass I can swim in lava like you guys can swim in a pool. It's an unbe-lava-bly useful ability in some situations." Yang winked as she used one of her favorite puns. This made everyone groan as she giggled.

Yang then looked around,

"So, where's the rest of my team? There should be a girl with red heair so dark it's almost black and a red hood, another who's like a snow sculpture in a winter-themed dress, and finally a black haired girl with a bow on her head that looks like cat ears. Seen them anywhere?" Seeing their clueless expressions, and the unlikable man's annoyed expression, Yang sighed and shook her head. They apparently haven't seen the RWB trio of team RWBY. Yang stretched a few times, smirking as she saw the four men watching without trying to stare at her assets,

"If you gentlemen are through staring, can we get going? I need to find the rest of my team and get back to Remnant, need to make sure we won the little war that a psychopath started in Vale." John looked at her,

"A war? What caused a war?" Yang thought for a moment,

"Well, the cover was a war for the freedom of a race of people known as the Faunus, they are humans with animal traits, like ears, horns, tails or other traits of an animal species. Sadly, a lot of people consider them a lesser species, so they're treated as second class citizens at best in most places, and as nothing but animals or slaves at worst in other places. A group known as the White Fang came into being after the first war, known as the Faunus Rights Revolution, or the Faunus War to most people. They started out peaceful, but a human by the name of Cinder Fall infiltrated the organisation and took over before changing the methods of the group drastically. They went from peaceful protests to organized attacks, work strikes to train hijacking, mostly targeting companies that used Faunus labor. However, they eventually just devolved into nothing but terrorists who would even attack innocent Faunus that didn't support them." Everyone was wide-eyed at this, one woman caused an innocent group to become corrupt and, by all accounts, evil? John spoke up,

"This woman, Cinder? Why did she do all of this? Why cause so much destruction?" Yang snorted humorlessly,

"She was a psychopath hell bent of conquering Vale, and maybe the rest of the kingdoms if she was crazy enough. However, since our first year in the academy, my team has been foiling her plans non-stop, at first it was just us being in the right places at the right times, or the wrong places at the wrong time, or maybe a mix of those, who knows. But eventually, we wound up on her hit list in our second year. She got tired of us and a few others from constantly interfering, like team JNPR, and team CFVY." John had a raised eyebrow,

"Team Coffee?" Yang chuckled and shook her head,

"No, CFVY. C-F-V-Y. It's an abbriviation, short for the first name of the four members, Coco, the leader, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi. JNPR was Jaune, the leader of his team, Nora, Pyrrha, and Lie Ren, though everyone just called him Ren."

"What was your team called?" Yang smirked,

"It's the same name as my little sister, I'm a proud member of team RWBY, members? Ruby Rose, my genius little sister who was skilled enough to skip two years of basic combat school to go to a Hunter Academy. Weiss Schnee, the Ice Queen and heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Blake Belladonna, my partner and major bad ass with her stealth skills, having grown up outside the major kingdoms, she learned to fight the Creatures of Grimm early on, so aside from Ruby, She has the most experiance in fighting them. And Finally, myself, Yang Xiao Long, official bad ass, and master CQC specialist of the group." Anderson raised an eyebrow,

"Wait, Xiao Long and Rose? You two have different last names, were one of you adopted or-?" Yang shook her head,

"Nope, Ruby took her mother's last name, Summer Rose, I took my dad's last name since I didn't know MY mother at the time." Udina looked curious,

"Your mother? You and this Ruby have different mothers?" Yang nodded,

"Yea, I don't really like talking about it, but let's just say she vanished shortly after I was born. I found her years later after endless searching, turns out she was given an extremely dangerous mission that would last for a few more years if things kept up as they were. Her name is Raven Branwen, she was a raven Faunus, making me half-Faunus myself."

Everyone was looking at Yang in shock but she smirked,

"But enough about my past, I need to find my team. So lets get going!"

"Hold up for one moment." Everyone turned and saw the other councilors walk in. Tevos, Sparatus, and Valern all looked at Yang curiously, and Valern spoke up,

"Tell me miss, Xiao Long, was it? Does your planet possess space travel? We must know this if we're to assist you in finding your home world." Yang shook her head and Valern nodded, a strange, holographic device appearing on his arm. The Councilors began questioning Yang about the specifics of her planet to help triangulate the location, luckily Yang had her scroll and pulled up lists of constellations to help them. Valern was most interested in the scroll, 'A device capable of expanding past it's expected dimensions, and operates similar to an Omni-tool, fascinating.', But kept focus on the matter at hand. Meanwhile, Yang was freaking out internally at the fact that she was TALKING to ALIENS! Just where had Ruby dropped her off at?

 **Omega, Mordin's Clinic...**

Ruby groaned and shifted a bit. Slowly waking up. She shifted and felt a strangly uncomfortable bed underneath her. SHe realized that she must've been placed on a cot after she stopped running, whenever that was. She opened her eye and saw that she was in some sort of modified building, medical supplies and random vials and syringes were scattered on tables in what appeared to be an organized mess. She turned and squeaked softly as her lone eye went wide. There, laying against the wall, was the strangest creature she'd ever seen. It's head was oblong, and oddly shaped, with two sets of eyes and a mouth full of needle teeth. Suddenly movement caught her attention and she reached back for her Crescent Rose, only to find it gone. The source of the movement spoke,

"No no no, no weapons in my clinic, unless you're guard or myself, but guests and patients must be unarmed. You, patient, so you must be unarmed to prevent injury to staff, to other patients, and most importantly, to yourself. Now, who are you and where are you from? Quite curious of the girl who fell from, what appeared to be crack in reality? Unsure, fascinating, and curious, what caused such happening..." Ruby got a good luck as he continued to ramble on to himself. He was tall, and very thin, but what really caught her attention was his amphibian-like skin, big black eyes, four fingered hands, and double jointed knees. The creature seemed to sense her stare and smiled softly,

"First time seeing a Salarian, correct? Understandable that you would be nervous, but not to worry, I am a doctor. My name is Mordin Solus. And you are?" Ruby was blinking her single eye in surprise. She then felt something off and touched her left eye. Her eyepatch was missing! It was a gift from Blake after she recovered from her fight with Emerald, where she had finally killed the damn woman and ddestroyed her Dual Rapid Fire Chain Scythe-Pistols. Mordin noticed and reached over towards the table next to Ruby, who froze as she saw him lift the eyepatch she thought was lost,

"Forgive me, needed to inspect all injuries, both current and past inj-"

"Sorry, it's just, it was a gift." Ruby quickly snatched the eyepatch and held it close as she said this, "M-my name is Ruby, Ruby Rose, I am a Huntress of the kingdom of Vale." Mordin nodded and smiled again,

"Pleasure Ms. Rose, now, about your injuries, it seems I had misjudged your recovery time, you seem to heal almost faster than a Krogan. Fascinating, also, strange energy signature from your body, can explain, yes?" Ruby blinked,

"That's my Aura."

"Aura? Curious, explain please."

"Well, an Aura is a manifestation of your soul, it bears our burdens and shields our hearts. With it we can shield our body from harm as well as, minutely, sense negative intent towards ourselves. Our Aura also does more than that, it also grants every person who unlocks it a unique ability known as a Semblance. Each Semblance will vary from person to person. Some may be similar, but they will always have differences." Ruby saw Mordin was now typing on a strange glowing device on his arm that had certainly not been there moments before. Mordin was mumbling to himself as he typed away,

"Fascinating, a Biotic-like energy occuring naturally in this human-like race, granting user of said energy unique talents known as, 'Semblance'. How is that spelled? Hmm- "

"S-e-m-b-l-a-n-c-e, that's how it's spelled."

"Ah, thank you ms. Rose, sorry, was fascinated by this discovery, so this Aura also increases regeneration in user's body?" Ruby nodded,

"That's right, and only creatures with souls can use Aura, however the monsters of the world cannot due to their lack of a soul." Mordin looked curious,

"Monsters you say? Descrice them, most curious about these unusual animals you speak of." Ruby found herself growing used to the Salarian doctor's presence and began to speak normally instead of cautiously. Soon both were speaking rather rapidly, leaving many onlookers confused at what was being said. Soon Ruby noticed the pistol at Mordin's hip and before he could react, she had grabbed it. Mordin prepared to defend himself when he noticed the young woman was simply studying the gun,

"Wow, I've never seen a pistol like this. Thermal ejection port, smooth-lined barrel? Why? That would decrease the speed of the bullt by not giving it a rotation..." SHe kept muttering as she looked at it and Mordin chuckled at her curiosity,

"Weapons different from your plant, I assume? Here, we rely on mass manipulation to fire weapons and..." Mordin began explaining Mass Effect technology to Ruby, who listened with fascination. She interrupted with a question occasionally, but otherwise seemed to understand.

 **On the Normandy SR-2, enroute to Omega...**

Miranda was a tall, black haired woman. She wore a bodysuit laced with titanium nanofibers to offer protection as well as freedom of movement. She normally was a very calm, precise individual, but right now, she was very annoyed. Shepard had apparently brought an unknown aboard the Normandy, a young woman, named... Yang, was it? Miranda saw her and for some reason, felt something off. It was like the young blonde had massive amounts of power hidden away, just waiting to be unleashed. SHe walked up to John,

"Are you sure it was wise to bring her onboard? She is a civilian." John shook his head,

"On her planet, she was actually a general for an army, plus she's what her planet calls a Huntress, one of a select few who are chosen to guard entire settlements from harsh wildlife of their world. And trust me, when I say harsh, the way she described it, it would be similar to living on a planet with a light thresher maw infestation." Miranda went wide-eyed, this young woman was a warrior, from a planet that dangerous? She couldn't believe it, the blonde seemed so calm and cheerful. How could this woman be a powerful warrior if she was so... so childish in nature?

Miranda shook her head and looked up as the blonde walked up and waved with her usual cheerful smile,

"Hey there, I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long, what's your name?" Miranda simply raised an eyebrow,

"Miranda Lawson, the second-in-command of the Normady. Be sure to remember that." Yang let her smile drop and she stared at Miranda,

"You need to lighten up, I swear you've gotta be more up tight than the Ice Queen's father, and I never even thought that was possible." Miranda looked confused, who was this Ice Queen? It seemed like a nickname, maybe for someone she knew? It doesn't matter, Miranda frowned slightly,

"I'm afraid that isn't possible, I need to be at my very best for any situation, I invested two years of my life in this project, so I will see it through." Yang frowned, with a slightly disappointed expression,

"So you're trying to be perfect? That's stupid, perfection doesn't exist, it's just a word people came up with to make themselves feel better." **(A/N: That's actually my honest opinion on the word 'perfect', not sure if the phrase is original, but if it is, that'd be cool)** Miranda blinked at the simple, yet surprisingly profound phrase. She found herself agreeing, if only slightly.

 _"We have arrived at Omega. Yang, Miranda, Jacob, Zaeed, and Kasumi, get ready to head out. We're looking for Archangel and Mordin Solus, and along the way, we'll ask the head of Omega if he or she's seen signs of Yang's team."_ Miranda turned and saw Yang tinkering with the golden braclets on her arms, suddenly, to her shock, the braclets expanded to cover the blonde's entire forearms. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the device was unlike anything she'd ever seen, there was even what appeared to be a small pipe of some sort. Yang stepped away and shifted her arms slightly and clenched her fists and the largest piece on the outside slid back, showing what appeared to be... an ammo belt? Shotgun ammo to be specific.

Were those gauntlets guns as well? That should be impossible, the way the gauntlets expanded showed they were highly compressed, how could the shells fit?, along with the rest of the gauntlet? Miranda shook her head, clearly the technology of Yang's planet evolved in a vastly different method than the rest, focusing on efficiency alongside asthetics rather than focusing on asthetics entirely. Miranda left to get her weapons as Yang began checking her shells.

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter 2, now in the next chapter, John will split the team into two, one going after Mordin and one going after Archangel. I'm still trying to decide who is on which team, if you've got an idea on the formation of the two teams, let me know.**

 **Also one other thing, I just realized that this story is the first that goes way beyond my norm. I used to focus on Naruto-themed stories, then I branhed out to Elder Scrolls. But this time, I made a leap out into new territory for myself. Which is cool. Hopefully, I'll do it more so I can catch the interests of more people who're not as interested in purely Naruto-related stories. Though, I'll admit, that does make me a bit nervous, as some people can be very critical with some stories so I only hope I don't disappoint.**

 **Anyways, I will see you readers later,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the next chapter for my Mass Effect/RWBY crossover, Now we finally get to Omega, will Aria be a help? Probably not, no one but Mordin and those in his clinic knows about Ruby. I hope you all enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans, also I learned that Vol. 3 comes out Oct. 24th, I'm definitely looking forward to that) nor do I own Mass Effect. Also I don't own the idea for the plot of the beginning of the story nor the idea for the appearance of adult Ruby(mainly her having an eye patch), those belong to Hysterical Clerical Hijinks.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Yang was tapping her foot impatiently as an asari, Aria T'Loak, had her goons scanning them. She was getting very irritated. This was taking up the time she could use to search for Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. Yang looked at the alien scanning her, a Batarian? Yea. Yang looked him in the eyes in irritation, causing her normally violet eyes to slowly shift to their crimson red, startling the alien slightly. Yang smirked when she heard John comment on the scan, mocking the woman not too subtly. However, Aria's comment on John being dead made her raise an eyebrow, her eyes shifting back to their original violet color. She soon smirked after, John must've been one hell of a bad ass to come back from the dead just to save the galaxy,

"So I'm working with a zombie? Cool, at least you're a good guy." This made everyone look at the girl like she was insane. All she did was flip her hair and ignored the stares. She didn't care what they thought. John just chuckled at Yang's nonchalant attitude. This was obviously a girl who said what she felt like whenever she felt like it. He could respect that. John shook his head and smirked, turning his attention back to Aria,

"So, I was told to talk to you for information here on Omega, I take it you're in charge of Omega?" Aria chuckled humourlessly, turning around to look over the club and she spread her arms theatrically,

"I AM Omega." She turned around and looked at the group, "But you need more, everyone always does, and they always come to me. I'm the boss, the CEO, Queen if you're feeling dramatic. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." Aria smirked as she sat down on the lounge couch,

"Don't FUCK with Aria." Yang rolled her eyes and snorted, drawing Aria's eyes. Aria smirked at the blondes attitude, and John spoke up,

"I see, seems simple enough to remember." Aria looked back at John,

"And if you forget it, someone will remind you." The Batarian that scanned John spoke up,

"And then I toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock." Yang cracked her knuckles and chuckled,

"I'd like to see you try four-eyes." John looked at Yang, smirking,

"Come on Yang, don't antagonise the one helping us find your team and my two recruits." Yang rolled her eyes,

"Yea, alright." John chuckled again and faced Aria who simply nodded towards the left, at the couch. John sat down and Aria spoke up again,

"So what is it you need?"

"I'm looking for a few people, the first being a Salarian doctor named Mordin Solus. I need him and a merc named Archangel to help me with a mission. It's a mission with low survival odds, so I need the best of the best."

"Well, Mordin is down in the slums. He's been working on curing a plague that's running rampant down there, we've got the whole place under quarintine and Blue Suns are clearing out the area of infected. He's a former STG, so he's as likely to kill you as he is to heal you. Oh, and if you meet him, don't let him start talking, he never shuts up. As for Archangel, he's in a bit of a bind right now, almost every mercenary on Omega is after his head. The Blue Suns are doing recruiting in a nearby room, just downstairs, so if you want to find Archangel, it's best to sign up there. Anything else?" John nodded and looked at Yang, who had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot again,

"I'm also looking for three people, three very unusually dressed people. Yang, pull up that picture you showed me." Yang nodded and walked forward, pulling out her Scroll, much to the curiosity of Aria. Yang expanded the tablet-like device and pulled up pictures of Ruby, Weiss, and Blake,

"Seen them blue girl?" Some of Aria's guards stiffened at Yang's words, fearing Aria would be insulted. Instead Aria chuckled at Yang's attitude,

"Well, I've never seen them, however, there was a rumor of an incredibly loud crashing sound in the slums where Mordin's set up his clinic, too loud to be any windows or glass breaking since it could be heard almost across the entire area, in fact, one of my guards heard it just outside the quarintine zone, that's just how loud it was. So maybe one or more of them are there." Yang went wide-eyed while John raised an eyebrow at how similar that sounded to when Yang arrived in the Human Embassies on the Citadel,

"Wait, you mean they might have the plague?" Aria rolled her eyes,

"No, the plague seems to be ignoring the humans of the area, oddly enough. It certainly isn't making the humans any friends among the aliens on the station." Yang sighed and nodded, collapsing her Scroll and sliding it in her pocket,

"Well, how do I get to Mordin's clinic?" Aria gave her the directions and John told Miranda and Kasumi to go with Yang to meet up with Mordin and hopefully find the rest of her team, meanwhile, Jacob, himself, and Zaeed would be going to recruit Archangel. **(A/N: Their mission to recruit Archangel will basically play out exactly like it did in the game.)** Yang, Kasumi, and Miranda nodded. Miranda was definitely interested in going, just so she could see Yang's combat style and how her weapons worked. Yang nodded and Yang looked at Aria,

"Anything I need to look out for down there?" Aria shrugged,

"As I said, the Blue Suns are in there wiping out anyone infected with the plague and anyone else caught in their way who isn't a member of their group, and the Blood Pack are starting to try and take over their territory." Yang narrowed her eyes,

"I see, thanks." Yang then turned around, Kasumi following with, oddly enough, a slight skip in her step. Miranda looked at John, who nodded, and she left as well. John looked at Zaeed and Jacob before signalling them to follow him. The three left and Aria looked at where they stood for a moment,

"Something about that blonde human... I like her, I don't know what it is, but I get the feeling that she could tear this station apart on her own, I respect that kind of power. Keep an eye on her, she may prove useful in the future." The Batarian nodded and began typing on his Omnitool.

 **With Yang, Kasumi, and Miranda...**

Miranda was very nearly gaping as they walked past the Turian guarding the entrance to the quarantine zone. Yang had quite litterally just asked to let them in, stating they would solve the problem quickly, and he just agreed. When does that happen? Miranda shook her head as they walked in. Yang tensed in front of them and moved behind cover. Soon, Kasumi and Miranda saw why, three Blue Suns were standing in the open alley, just talking, their guns in hand but lowered. Yang looked at Kasumi and nodded. Kasumi smiled and suddenly activated her active camoflage. She snuck forward as Yang activated her weapons. Miranda watched them again, still amazed at the technological marvel of the collapsable weapons. The parts just seemed to flow like water as they twisted and slid out around her forearm, covering them entirely and then... she stepped out? Yang quite litteraly was just walking up to the Blue Suns members. Was she insane? Miranda shook her head, according to John, she as a general ranked soldier, so what was her plan?

The Blue Suns noticed her and raised their weapons. However, the one in the back, suddenly fell, dead. The other two turned and witnessed Kasumi appearing, an SMG in her hands as she was about to fire at them. Before she could get a shot off, however, there was a screaming sound as two bright spheres shot forward and hit the mercenaries. Kasumi and Miranda looked as Yang was in a postion of having thrown a punch. Had her weapons really shot a blast of pure energy? Miranda walked up,

"What was that?" Yang then pulled her arms back one after the other as though preparing another punch, and the large, apprantly weighted, piece oin top slide back, before releasing the empty shell Yang had just shot. That's how she prepared each shot for her weapons? That was actually quite brilliant. Yang looked back and her weapons collapsed once again,

"That, was my Ember Ceilia. My personally crafted weapon I made when I was twelve years old, like almost all Hunters." Miranda blinked,

"You built those when you were only twelve years old?" Yang nodded, before she seemed to think,

"Well, I designed them and did most of the building, but my little sis helped make improvements on them. Hehe, she always was a dork for weapons, if she's here, she's probably looking at every weapon she can to figure out how they work, and if possible, how to improve them."

 **With Ruby and Mordin...**

Ruby was at a table, provided to her while she was busy taking apart and inspecting the various pieces of Mordin's Carnifex Pistol. She frowned as her nose suddenly tickled and she sneezed,

"Ugh, I hope I'm not getting sick. No, it's probably Yang. She's probably teasing about the weapons thing again. She shrugged and began callibrating the Thermal port, trying to make it more efficient.

 **With Yang, Miranda, and Kasumi...**

Kasumi giggled a bit alongside Yang,

"So tell me Yang, what's your planet like?" Yang thought for a second,

"Well, that's kinda hard, it's just home for me, we've got lots of cities but also lots of other environments. For example, there's the Forest of Forever Fall, an enormous forest with gray trees with beautiful auburn colored leaves and grass." Yang continued describing her world before a fit of coughing was heard. She looked over and saw a batarian collapsed on the corner of a nearby building. She quickly ran over,

"Hey, are you alright?" The alien tried knocking her away,

"Back away... Damn humans, first you make the plague, now you lack the decency to let me die before you rob me." Yang raised an eyebrow and smacked his head,

"Don't be a dumbass, why would humans make this plague if they knew it would make other aliens attack them as a result? That's kinda faulty logic there." The batarian seemed confused,

"Wha-" Yang shook her head,

"Now shut up, I'm gonna give you some, what was it called again? Medigel? Yea, some of that stuff, it should help you out. Kasumi, give me some, I don't exactly have any on me." Miranda spoke up,

"We don't have time for this, we need to get to Mordin's clinic, n-" Yang looked at Miranda, a frown on her face,

"Shut up, as a Huntess, it's my duty to help people like him, and you, Batarian, I'm not some greedy bitch who wants fame or money or whatever, so don't expect me to ask for payment. Like my sister, I just want to help people. Try to make the world, or in this case the galaxy, a better place, one person at a time." Miranda was surprised at the conviction behind Yang's words, as were Kasumi and the Batarian. Kasumi smirked and stepped forward and began applying medigel to the Batarian. He stood up soon after,

"Y-you truly wanted to help me? And you don't want payment for it? I-I've never met a human like you before." Yang smirked,

"Damn straight you haven't, I'm one of a kind." The Batarian stood up, slowly,

"It feels better, you've given me a chance, I'll never be able to repay you, human." Yang shook her head,

"You don't need to, and the name's Yang, Yang Xiao Long. But I do need help myself, you know that loud shattering sound that happened here recently?" The alien blinked his four eyes and nodded,

"Yea, it came from that Salarian's clinic. I'd be careful around him, he executed a swaud of Blue Suns that tried pushing him for protection money. First he stunned them with some toxin, then he shot them each in the head." Yang raised an eyebrow as Kasumi spoke up,

"He IS a former Salarian STG, so it would make the most sense." The Batarian nodded, it did make sense to him. After asking a few more questions about the area Yang interrupted,

"So, the shattering came from the clinic, mind giving directions there? Don't worry, I'll try to get him to send someone back in return to help you get better" The Batarian nodded and pointed at a nearby doorway,

"Through there, keep going through and you'll reach Mordin's clinic in the center of this entire area." Yang nodded and walked off, Kasumi and Miranda following closely.

 **A few minutes later, outside Mordin's Clinic...**

Miranda, Kasumi, and Yang walked up to see a glowing hologram, showing a + and an arrow pointing down a side alleyway. Yang snorted and looked at Miranda and Kasumi,

"Think this is it?" Miranda narrowed her eyes at Yang as Kaumi giggled before adding onto Yang's joke,

"No, it's probably another Salarian's clinic, I think Mordin's is farther along." Yang giggled slightly as they walked along, seeing two men and two mechs, LOKI mechs if Yang was remembering correctly, holding guns. One man looked at them and told them not to make trouble. They nodded and walked into the clinic. There were several coughing aliens around. SOme were healed and were muttering to themselves that they were lucky to get to the clinic in time. Yang walked up to the receptionist but the woman was typing on her datapad,

"Sorry, too busy, we're understaffed right now, if you want to help, Dr. Solus is in the back." They nodded and walked back when a voice was heard,

"Marvelous, pistol is much more efficient now, how did you do it?" Suddenly a second voice was heard,

"Ah, that's actually pretty simple, I just-"

"RUBY!" Yang ran right in and, after spotting the familiar red hood, ran up and grabbed the young woman in a tight hug. Ruby started sputtering. However, when she saw the braclets on the arms of the one holding her, she gasped,

"Y-Yang? Is that you?" Yang dropped her sister, who turned around immediantly afterwards, and smiled brightly,

"Of course it is. Dear Monty, am I glad that you're alright sis." Ruby smiled and hugged Yang back. Mordin, Kasumi, and Miranda watched this scene unfold before them. Mordin and Kasumi smiled softly, while Miranda kept a straight face. However, in Miranda's mind she was torn,

'I-is this what it's like to be with your sister? I... Maybe I-I should go visit Oriana, I haven't seen her since I rescued her from our bastard father.' Miranda's lips twitched slightly as she continued watching them. Ruby was talking excitedly, almost like a kid, despite the fact that she was only two years younger than Yang. Yang laughed and started teasing Ruby for her love of weapons again. Ruby pouted cutely and Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulders,

"Anyways, Miranda, Kasumi, I want you two to meet my little sister, Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY." Yang had a bright smile on her face along with Ruby who waved casually,

"Hi there, thanks for taking care of my sis while she was with you, she can be a bit of a handful sometimes."

"Hey sis! Low blow there." Ruby just giggled and stuck her tongue out. While the two sisters bickered, Miranda turned to Mordin,

"Are you Mordin Solus?" The Salarian nodded as he got back to work,

"Yes, now, who are you? Symbol on shoulder shows Cerberus, had few run ins in the past, but confusing as to why you would be here."

"We need your help with a mission." Mordin stopped momentarily,

"Cerberus seeking alien help? Never expected Illusive Man to change his ways. Still, too busy, must cure plague, artificial in nature, most curious for its purpose."

"Oh, that's right, I was gonna volunteer to take the cure to enviornmentals to disperse the cure into the air." Mordin looked over surprised and Yang smirked,

"Well, if my little sis is doing that, count me in." Miranda looked at Yang in surprise,

"Now just a mi-" Yang looked at Miranda, frowning again and shockingly, Miranda saw some red slowly making its way into Yang's normally bright violet irises which made Miranda shut up almost instantly,

"Miranda, I just got to see my sis again after not knowing if she was dead or alive, so you can either shut up and come along or go back and wait on the Normady. I'm not abandoning one of the few remaining members of my family for any reason." Miranda flinched a tiny bit at that. Ruby softly slapped Yang's arm,

"Yang, calm down. I don't want you burning this place down just because you're angry." That made everyone look at Yang. She would burn this place down if she got pissed off? Mordin stepped forward as Yang nodded and took a few deep breathes to calm herself,

"Right, now, where do we need to go little sis?" Ruby smiled and held out her arm, both of which now had a new set of gloves and an Omnitool popped up,

"Let me pull up the map, Mordin was kind enough to make me an Omnitool and teach me how to use it, in return, I fixed up his Carnifex pistol to be much better than any other, the thermal ejection is now obsolete as his weapon can retain its internal temperature much more efficiently than before and it has a larger clip too..." Miranda watched with widening eyes as Ruby explained all she had improved on the pistol. Meanwhile Kasumi grinned along with Yang, who giggled, when Ruby stopped and blushed before pulling her hood to hide her face. Kasumi walked up and wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulder,

"Think you could improve my smg? With your skills at weaponry improvement, you'd make our mission ten times easier." Ruby raised her visible eyebrow,

"Mission?" Yang took over, frowning slightly at what she was told,

"Oh yea, that's right, their taking on an alien race that's kidnapping entire colonies in space and are more than likely working for a race of giant robots that end life in the galaxy every fifty-thousand years, it's not gonna be an easy one, that's for sure." Ruby was wide-eyed and she gained a steely look in her visible silver eye,

"When we get back, count us in." Yang smirked as Kasumi and Miranda looked surprised. Miranda stepped forward,

"You want to help us? Why?" Ruby stared at Miranda, causing the british woman to get slightly nervous,

"Because, people are being kidnapped, forced from their homes for a reason that's probably sinister in nature. As a Huntress, it's my duty to protect the innocent from those that desire their deaths for no good reason." Miranda nodded in shock at the twenty-five year old woman's conviction and determination. It was something to be respected. Yang smirked,

"And be careful of pissing my sister off, you think I'm bad? SHe'll tear you up before you can blink, literally." Miranda and Kasumi blinked,

"What do you mean?" Ruby looked at Yang,

"You didn't tell them about Semblances, did you?" Yang blinked and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly while laughing akwardly,

"Nope, I was more concerned with finding you and the rest of the team." Ruby rolled her eye and sighed,

"Well first let me explain what an Aura is, since that's the source of a Semblance. An Aura is a manifestation of your soul, it guides and guards your mind, body, and heart from those with evil intent, as well as from physical and most ranged attacks. This power can become visible through a glowing color. Anyways, all living creatures, minus one race as far as I can tell, possess a soul, therefore can possess an Aura. However, the most extrodinary thing about an Aura is the gift it gives each individual, known as a Semblance. Semblances will vary from person to person, like me and Yang, we are sisters but she has Damage Absorbtion and Flame Manipulation/Resistance while I have a Speed Semblance." Ruby vanished in a flurry of rose petals, appearing behind Miranda and Kasumi instantly,

"Though mine goes beyond normal speed, from my perspective, the world slows down and color gets muted because I'm moving so fast that even light has difficulty keeping up with me." Miranda, Mordin, and Kasumi were wide-eyed at this statement. Yang however smirked,

"Add on the fact that Ruby is a master of the most dangerous weapon ever designed, and you'll see why she's called the Crimson Reaper." Everyone was confused until Kasumi blinked and her jaw dropped,

"A scythe?" Ruby smirked and pulled a red box with black accents on it and it suddenly expanded and unfurled into a massive scythe with a serrated blade as long as she was tall. She expertly maneuvered the scythe behind her without knocking anything in the room over. She had a glint in her eye and a grin on her face,

"This is my sweetheart, Crescent Rose. It's a cross between a scythe embedded with Ocillation Dust and a customizable High-Impact sniper rifle." Mordin looked curious,

"How powerful is the impact?" Ruby's smirk grew,

"Powerful enough to send me, and my scythe, flying twenty feet into the air from a single shot downwards." Now everyone, minus Yang, had their jaws dropped, that was a very powerful gun, and most likely had an extremely heavy recoil. Ruby seemed to sense this and thubed a hidden switch which popped out a scope, a handle and a small muzzle popped out from the end of the scythe,

"My fighting style uses the heavy recoil to propel my movements, making me move faster, and it can help me swimng my scythe faster as well as cut through things I couldn't on my own." Miranda could see the sense of that tactic, using the power of her own weapon to augment her own strengths and overcome any weakness of her physical strength. Ruby retracted her scythe and holstered it on the back of her waist before typing on her Omnitool again and pulling up a map of the area,

"Now, back to the mission at hand, we need to get to Environmentals to disperse the cure but the Blood Pack mercenary gang is in control of the area so we'd need to clear them out." Yang got serious as Ruby got into her 'leader mode' as Yang liked to call it. Yang knew at this moment to be serious and to not joke around, they did need to save this neighborhood from this plague. Mordin stepped forward,

"Yes, mostly comprised of Vorcha, most consider Vorcha idiotic, but Vorcha's increase in aggression after plague dispersal shows they might be behind it,

"Or maybe it's the Collectors." Kasumi spoke up and everyone looked at her, and Miranda spoke up,

"What makes you assume that?" Kasumi took on a thinking pose,

"Well, think about it, it affects every species aside from the Vorcha, who are immune to any and all plagues and diseases, and Humans, who the Collectors are targeting." Mordin adopted the same thinking pose,

"Yes, most logical, plague obviously engineered, Collectors one of very few races with the technology for such a feat. Our goals may be similar, I am assuming?" Miranda nodded,

"It would appear so if the Collectors did create this plague." Mordin nodded and Ruby looked over everyone,

"Alright, we have a plan, we have our weapons and we have ammo. Let's get started."

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter three. Yang has finally found a member of the team, and more importantly found out she survived overcharging her Semblance. Chapter four will be the mission to the Environmentals and possibly featuring a look at another member of team RWBY and their situation. I hope I made a good personality for this older Ruby, still a bit shy around new people but more friendly and open as she gets to know them. Well, look forward to the next chapter, it'll take a bit because I'm actually in the middle of replaying the series so I can recreate the missions of ME2 here in this story, though with a twist of RWBY added. Speaking of RWBY, I'm excited for the upcoming Vol. 3, episode 1 coming out in 3 days.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the fourth chapter for my Mass Effect/RWBY crossover, The mission for Mordin will be completed in this chapter and we'll get a peak at what happened with Blake on Illium. I hope you all enjoy the chapter as well as the story over all.**

 **Oh, and after watching Screw Attack's Yang vs Tifa death battle on youtube(which was pretty good), I realized I was mistaken with Yang's weapon, I always called it Ember Cecilia, when it's actually Ember Celica. That was a mistake on my part, and I'm sorry. I'll do my best to fix that starting in this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Yang, Ruby, Miranda, and Kasumi all were walking quickly yet quietly through a maze of back alleys. Quickly making their way towards the Envirnmental sector. While discussing the battle strategy for how to get there, the ventalations had suddenly shut off and an alarm started blaring. Mordin realized the Vorcha had shut down the air systems, trying to suffocate the entire district to hide the evidence of the plague. Mordin was shocked and angered but he told them to go quickly so they could save the district. Mordin also called out to look out for his assistant, who had snuck out a few hours ago to go into Blood Pack territory to find plague victims, having taken a few vials of the cure with him. Before they left, Yang mentioned Batarian near the entrance to the district. Mordin promised to do what he could and Yang nodded, smiling along with Ruby.

After nodding in agreement, Ruby took command, much to Miranda's annoyance. Soon however, Miranda noticed that Yang followed Ruby's orders to the letter. Was this young woman that good of a leader that someone two years older, and who she believed to be more experienced, would follow her without question? Little did Miranda know, Ruby was the more experianced one, having started training with her uncle Qrow at the ripe age of 8 years old, four years after her mother, Summer, had died on her final mission. Qrow, to the day before he passed away from a surprise attack by a horde of Grimm and White Fang members, always teased her about how silly she looked trying to carry a scythe at that age.

Kasumi smirked and cloaked herself before sneaking up on a Turian and killing him with a blow to the neck. As a result of the attack, her cloak faded, revealing her, as she shot at a nearby Batarian. Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and extended it to its sniper mode. She began to quickly take out as many Blue Suns as she could while Yang charged forward, using a shot from her Ember Celica to give her a burst of speed, and began to shoot and/or pummel every Blue Sun merc in range. Miranda simply used her SMG to take out whichever mercs Ruby, Yang, and Kasumi missed. She occasionally used her Biotics to Push some enemies so they could be taken out easier. Miranda stopped as Ruby shot the last merc and she had to marvel at the red clad woman's skill with a weapon that had such a heavy recoil.

Miranda turned to Yang, seeing the woman twist and hold her arms a certain way to her sides that made the heavy weight slide up along with a thin plate of metal under it. Yang then clenched her fists and twisted her wrists making the spent rounds pop out. Yang reached behind her into two pouches and pulled out two more belts of ammunition. Yang tossed them up, threw her arms back and caught the belts in a way that would cause them to wrap around, locking into place. She twisted her arms back and the weapon sealed the 'chamber' of ammo. Miranda almost failed to see why she did that, but then remembered that Yang not only used them as weapons but also to augment her already impressive physical prowess. The angle she reloaded gave a proper angle to shoot the gauntlet-shotgun weapons, which would launch Yang forward at an incredible pace. Ruby simply had a large clip on the underside of her weapon, which she released to check her remaining ammo for that clip.

Ruby motioned Yang to her side and they began discussing how they should approach the next area. It was a dual level area, with them up top, that had two or three ways up to the top level. Yang pointed these out but Ruby waved her off, saying the Vorcha weren't the brightest around, having fought a few herself when they tried sneaking past the Blue Suns to attack the clinic directly,

"Yang, they will literally gather under where we are at, that's how dumb these guys are. You'll have a perfect chance to just smash them in one go or you can just stand up top with the Miranda and Kasumi and snipe them." Yang blinked and smirked,

"Ah, gonna put Crescent Rose to use, are we?" Ruby snorted,

"Of course, I can't let my skills get rusty. These particular Vorcha will make great practice, they're pretty much just like the Creatures of Grimm, walking disasters for everyone else." Yang nodded, that made sense, before Ruby continued,

"Only, they are as dumb as people back home who think the Faunus are just animals." Yang blinked and nodded,

"Ok, that's pretty stupid then." Kasumi and Miranda looked at each other with confused expressions before Miranda spoke up,

"Um, I'm sorry, but what are 'Faunus'?" Yang and Ruby blinked before Ruby looked at Yang,

"What? Like I said back at the clinic, I was more concerned with finding you and the others, I didn't have time to explain everything. I only told John and three others about them. Apparently he never told anyone else, since I never did." Ruby blinked and tilted her head slightly,

"Who's John?" Yang blinked and smirked,

"One majorly awesome guy, he practically came back from the dead to kick Collector ass." Ruby blinked and grinned slightly,

"Cool." Yang grinned and nodded. Miranda rolled her eyes and Kasumi laughed before they wented throught the door into the next area. Ruby had her Crescent Rose in sniper mode and shot the Vorcha above by the giant fans before they could get a shot in. They ran forward and around a corner. Like Ruby predicted, the Vorcha entered through a door and hid behind cover directly in front of them on the floor below. Yang smirked as she cocked her Ember Celica and, taking a few steps back, ran forward, leapt over the side and flipped backwards as she flew in front of a light, making the Vorcha close their eyes as Yang's arm caught fire and she slammed down onto the ground. Miranda and Kasumi were wide-eyed as Yang literally made a shockwave from the impact. Several Vorcha at ground level with Yang flew into the air and some flew off the edge and down the sheer drop.

Ruby, used to Yang's fighting style, shot several Vorcha that tried attacking while she was standing up,

"Got your back sis!" Yang smirked and held out a thumbs up towards her half-sister. Yang then leapt forward and slammed the heel of her combat boots into the head of a nearby Vorcha who was getting up, cracking his skull. As Yang began brawling with the Vorcha, Ruby Miranda, and Kasumi were shooting the Vorcha from the upper level. After a few waves of them, they finally managed to clear the area. Miranda and Kasumi ran down the stairs but Ruby simply leapt off and landed next to her sister. Ruby and Yang high-fived each other, grinning brightly,

"Nice to see our teamwork is still great little sis. Now we just gotta find Blake and Weiss and we'll be set to help out John and his little crew." Ruby nodded as the other two women caught up with them. After nodding, and looking over the map of the next area, the team made their way through to the Environmentals. Along the way, they found Mordin's assistant, and Ruby managed to convince the Batarians holding him hostage to let them go. The medic thanked them and left to return to the clinic. They finally made it and entered the room, where four enormous fans stood still with a holographic console in the center. Several Vorcha walked up and one in the center started spouting how he was going to kill everyone in the district and how the Collectors would make them more powerful. Ruby's lone silver eye narrowed. Yang noticed this and gulped. Miranda and Kasumi noticed Yang backing up slowly. Yang looked over and motioned them, slowly, to follow her lead. The two women then looked at Ruby and her eye seemed to go from bright, liquid silver, to cold, solid steel grey. Miranda and Kasumi went wide-eyed and backed away from the severely pissed off woman. Ruby reached behind her and grabbed the collapsed Crescent Rose,

"Haah, what you do with red box? Nothing! We tear you apart after crushing weapon! We-" Suddenly Ruby pulled her hood up and extended her weapon out fulling into it's Scythe mode. The Vorcha grew nervous at the sight of such an intimidating weapon. Miranda looked at Yang, hoping for an explanation,

"You're about to see why my little sister is known as the Crimson Reaper, and why SHE is the leader of team RWBY. So pay close attention." Everyone looked as Ruby was suddenly surrounded by a storm of rose petals. Then she vanished! The Vorcha looked around in confusion before the one who had spoken was suddenly dismembered and sliced to pieces while being surrounded by crimson red rose petals. Miranda and Kasumi were in shock as they watched Ruby suddenly appear, looking like the Grim Reaper, only with a cloak of blood rather than of shadows. Ruby expertly dispatched the Vorcha and suddenly she pointed the end of her scythe up and to her left and pulled the trigger. A body was heard hitting the floor above the three women and they looked up to see back up for the Blood Pack, Vorcha, Varren, and even a few Krogan. Yang smirked as her body began to heat up and her hair began to glow, wisps of fire flickering off occasionally.

Yang charged towards the Krogan, her Ember Celica extrended and seeming to rotate partially so it covered her whole fist and wrists like gauntlets. This was Yang's Complete Melee form for her weapons. It was incapable of shooting in this state but she made it so she didn't need to, since she mastered her semblance's Fire Manipulation to replicate the effects without wasting her ammo. She grinned as her Ember Celica began to glow a molten gold color as she began to tactifully dispatch the Krogan with ease, easily avoiding their weapons and, unknowingly, using their weakness to fire against them. Miranda and Kasumi were fighting as Ruby kept up her slaughter of the Blood Pack.

A few moments later, and the entire area was cleared. Miranda and Kasumi were now positive of the twent-five yeald old woman's skill, and vowed to never get on her bad side. Miranda studied her closely,

'This woman, she would absolutely destroy Kai Leng, and he's the best operative we possess in all of Cerberus. Yang most likely could as well. The style she has seems to be a brawler style, but I can tell that it actually seems to be a mix of several styles. The different stances she took against each Krogan and Vorcha proves it. Who taught her, I wonder.' Yang looked at Ruby as she inserted the cure. Miranda noticed it wasn't activating so she asked EDI how to re-activate them. After being told Yang went with Kasumi to one side and Ruby went to the other to activate emergency overrides to activate the fans again.

 **An hour later...**

Mordin was following Miranda, Kasumi, Yang, and Ruby as they made teir way towards the Normandy. Ruby was amazed at the sights and when she saw the Normandy, she practically had stars in her only visible eye. SHe rushed forward and looked out the window to see the Normandy. Yang laughed and grabbed her sister's hood and dragged her as she groaned cutely,

"Yaaaang! Stop it!" Yang just giggled along with Kasumi while Miranda rolled her eyes as she watched the two sisters. Yang pulled RUby through the airlock tunnel to let them board the Normandy.

 **Comms room...**

John smirked as Archangel, his old partner Garrus Vakarian, laughed,

"Own, don't make me laugh, my face is barely holding together as it is. Ah well, I suppose it's better for you, the women were always ignoring you and focusing all their attention on me, now it's your turn to get some of the attention." John chuckled and shook his head. Suddenly the door opened and a voice was heard,

"Hey John, guess who I found?" Yang walked in, smiling brightly with a slightly timid looking woman who was two years younger than her. John then noticed her red hood and smiled,

"So, this is Ruby Rose, huh Yang?" Yang nodded as Ruby waved slightly. Yang elbowed Ruby slightly,

"Oh, stop being so shy Ruby, say hello." Ruby gave an adorable glare at her older sister, who just laughed,

"Don't be mean Yang, anyways, it's nice to meet you, as you might already know, my name's Ruby." Yang noticed the scarred Turian in the room,

"Yikes, what happened to you, big guy?" Garrus looked confused then looked at John,

"Who are these two?" John explained the situation and Garrus nodded before chuckling,

"You seem to attract the strangest of people, don't you Shepard?" John smirked,

"I can't disagree with you there Garrus. Anyways, you better get some rest, we'll be heading to Purgatory to recruit the biotic." Garrus nodded,

"I'll be down in the forward battery, gotta make sure the weapons are callibrated properly." John nodded and looked at Yang and Ruby. He caught Yang's eye and smirked. Yang felt a bit of warmth but shook the feeling off as she smirked back at him, unaware that the same feeling passed through John.

'This trip will definitely be interesting.'

 **Illium, private room in the hospital...**

Liara sat in a chair next to the bed of the strange woman. From what the doctors had told her, the woman was not human, or rather, not entirely human. She seemed to posess animal traits, highly sensitive eyesight, allowing for natural nightvision, her muscles were very flexible but very strong. And most unusual, the second set of ears on the woman's head, a set of feline ears, matching her hair color. Liara was reading a data pad on the woman's medical scans and examinations. Liara put the data pad down and looked at the woman, who was placed in a medically induced slumber, however, the doctors said they would wake her up within a few hours since all of her wounds had fully healed already, to their surprise. Liara was curious but she held her curiosity back for the moment, at least until the woman was awake and coherent.

Meanwhile, Liara picked up the strange device found in the woman's pocket, it was like a collapsable data pad, but Liara decided not to mess with it until she knew how it worked, since it was operated differently than an Omni-tool or a data pad. Liara put the device down and, for the fifth time in the last hour, began inspecting the weapon found on the woman's back.

 **On route to the Purgatory prison station...**

Ruby was in the armory with Jacob, who was watching in amazement at how Ruby took apart and vastly improved their weapons and armor. She was a bit annoyed at the shielding, unable to prevent or negate most melee harm, vulnerable to gases and liquids. She shook her head as she was now working on the shielding units. However, with their 'Mass Effect' technology, it was very difficult, even for her. She was learning more about how this 'Eezo' worked. It was facinating, Remnant had catologued many elements, ones that existed in the galaxy and others that ONLY existed on Remnant. However, this Element was something that was never seen before on their planet. It literally had an atomic mass of absolute zero, which should've been impossible. Yet, there it was in front of her.

Jacob watched as Ruby was tinkering with some armor and next to her were a few crystals of brown, yet clear, crystals that Ruby refered to as Terra Dust. She told him that her sister's partner, Blake, used metal plates embued with this Terra Dust to increase it's durability and resistance to damage. Jacob blinked when Ruby began grinding the crystals slowly, and after she finished they were a light brown powder. She began to use a red crystal called Burn Dust to heat the armor as she began sprinkling the powdered crystal all over the now red hot armor,

"Alright, now, I need to cool it slowly so I don't accidentally activate the Dust." Jacob blinked,

"What would happen if you activated it?" Ruby blinked and held an icy looking crystal now and gently tapped it against the armor when it started glowing slightly,

"Well, simply put, the dust would become a focal point for, well normally an earthquake, but since we're in space, it'd likely be hyper focused vibrations capable of ripping this ship to pieces, no matter how tough it is. So please, do not distract me." Jacob blinked and gulped quietly before he nodded and left quietly. He almost ran into Miranda as he left the Armory,

"Be careful Miranda, that Ruby girl is apparently messing with some dangerous stuff, so if you're going in there, don't distract her." Miranda raised an eyebrow,

"Dangerous? What is she doing?"

"She said she's enhancing our armor with one of those crystals from her planet, she called it Terra Dust. She said if she activated it in it's current state, it would release highly focused vibrations that would tear apart the ship." Miranda was now wide-eyed and her jaw had dropped, "Yea, now you see why I left the room. She said it normally caused earthquakes if activated in it's raw form, but since there's no land it would... well, you know." Miranda shook her head and turned away before going to Mordin's lab. The Salarian had asked Ruby for samples of these crystals so he could study them. He found them structurally similar to average crystals but they held some unknown form of energy that he couldn't identify.

Miranda walked in to find the doctor studying what Ruby called Aero Dust, apparently it contained the 'fury of the wind' as the red head called it. Apparently, on Remnant, Dust was nicknamed Nature's Wrath in crystalized form, and after seeing a demonstration of some Dust, Miranda, and the rest of the crew, had to agree. Ruby had only five types of Dust on her person at the moment, Burn, Aero, Terra, Spark, and Frost Dust. **(The only dust mentioned in the entire series is Burn Dust, which we can assume is Fire element, so I just decided to name the rest.)** Burn was a red crystal, Aero was green, Terra was Brown, Spark was yellow, and Frost was pure white.

Apparently, Ruby's teammate, Weiss, had much more since she never traveled without several vials of almost every element of Dust on the face of Remnant. However, Ruby didn't have much aside from a few crystals and vials to fill her shells to use as special ammunition for her Crescent Rose. Miranda began asking Mordin to return to his work on the Seeker swarm resistance. However Mordin waved her off, saying that Yang, surprisingly, had helped him understand the strange insect-like machines. They were bio-mechanical, so Yang, with her studies in medical and biological sciences, to understand the physical weaknesses and strengths of the body of Humans, animals, and Faunus, was able to help Mordin understand the physical abilities of the Seekers, like their weakness to certain frequecies of sound and vibrations.

Miranda was surprised that a combat specialist like Yang woould study organic physiology and field combat medical practices. Though, she could understand if her team was hurt the medical training would come in handy, and the understanding of the physical body of her enemies would allow Yang to take them down, or out, more easily. Miranda nodded as this thought went through her mind and she left. Meanwhile, Ruby had finished cooling down the last bit of the armor and sighed, wiping her forehead with her arm,

"And done, now the armor will be much tougher, hehe, I can't wait to see everyone's reactions when they see the improvements to their armor!" Ruby giggled as she began loading the armor up when a sudden shiver ran up her spine,

'I don't like that feeling, something's gonna happen, but what is it?'

 **Tuchanka...**

The Urdnot clan were busy defending their borders when the very air shattered several kilometers away. Some snipers and scouts investigated when they noticed strange animals appearing through it. Black animals, with crimson streaked ivory plates coating their body. There were hundreds of them, in various shapes and sizes. The Krogan began shooting the ones that got too close however, the creatures had spread out and began roaming the planet Tuchanka, curious about the new environment and enjoying the negative emotions that filled the very air around them. The Grimm had come to Tuchanka, and who knows if they would appear elsewhere in the galaxy.

* * *

 **And Chapter four is now done. It seems Ruby's semblance transported more than just her and her team. We'll have to see if the clans of Tuchanka can handle them. Also, I'll be skipping the Purgatory mission, it'll pretty much play out as usual, but Yang and Ruby will go with John on the Krogan Warlord recruitment mission. So expect the next chapter to be a bit late since I need to remember how it went again.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the fifth chapter for my Mass Effect/RWBY crossover. Now, the team has arrived on the junkyard planet, Kolrus, to recruit the Krogan Warlord Okeer. Yang will go along as well as Zaeed in John's traditional three member team. Now Yang'll have to fight against professionally trained mercs rather than barely trained Vorcha and the occasional Krogan. Also, Thanks Jahvasi, for telling me that I mispelled the title, that was my bad. And one more thing, someone mentioned a Garrus/Ruby pairing, It seems like a good idea, but I personally like the Ladybug(Blake/Ruby for those who don't know) pairing since it's not done very often when compared to something like the Ice Flower pairing, which is the most common for Ruby. Blake and Ruby kinda balance each other out as much as Ruby and Weiss, but Ruby and Blake would have more common ground since they both enjoy books. And Blake has more patience to deal with Ruby's hyper active antics than Weiss would.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Yang looked around the shuttle that she, John, and Zaeed were in. It was roomy for the three of them, but she knew that more than four of five and it would start getting cramped. At first she questioned the reason for a three-member squad. However, John told her that it was a strike force, meant to get in and out quickly, which made sense to Yang, since they were recruiting a Krogan from a planet that was common resting place for mercs. Yang looked over at John,

"So, what's this planet called again?" John looked up,

"It's called Kolrus, known by many as the garbage pile with an atmosphere, others call it the recycling center of the galaxy. So basically, it's a planet sized junkyard for all sorts of waste like ships, unusuable raw material, et cetera, et cetera. However, one big problem with this planet is the number of criminals and mercs on the planet. There's barely a planet known in the galaxy with a higher death count. Tuchanka being one of the few with higher." Yang nodded slowly,

"Riiight, now we're going down to this planet, in a shuttle, to recruit a... Krogan scientist?" John shrugged,

"I doubt he'd call himself a true scientist, but yea, pretty much. As for the use of the Kodiak, well, the planet is filled with Anti-air craft guns, since the shuttle is too small for them to register, we stand a better chance of getting in this way." Yang nodded and reached into her back pouch. SHe pulled out a leather case, which held a small tool set. The blonde then began tinkering with her Ember Celica. Soon they reached the ground and Yang put her weapon back together, very quickly at that, and had them back on before the side door opened entirely. As they got out a voice spoke over a loud speaker. It was some woman pouting out some Blue Suns nonsense. Yang felt the corner of her lip drop slightly,

"This woman loves to hear herself talk, doesn't she?" John chuckled along with Zaeed,

"Got that right, Blondie. Most, if not all, Blue Suns leaders are like that." Zaeed pulled out his assault rifle as he spoke and checked to make sure he had a full clip. Yang looked at him oddly before shrugging and activating her Ember Celica. Zaeed watched as the golden braclets expanded and shifted to form the shotgun-gauntlets,

"Say, where can I get me something like that?" Yang looked at him again with a raised eyebrow,

"Well, you'd need to know the basics of our form of mechashift. You already have a start with how your weapons collapse, but your galaxy's mechashift is nowhere near the level of our planet. The leader of one team we worked with, team CFVY, had a weapon that looked like a small suitcase, but expanded far beyand what you expected into a full sized chain-gun. And of course, because it was Coco herself, the gun was her biggest fashion accesory." Yang laughed a bit as Zaeed looked surprised, a small suitcase turning into a full sized chain-gun? That defied physics, but then again, Yang's weapons super compressed as well, there shouldn't be any room for her shells and the rest of the weapon, but it does. Zaeed shook his head,

"So, how can I learn this 'mechashift' technology?" Yang had a thoughtful look for a moment,

"You'd have to talk to Ruby about that. She was a prodigy with weaponsmithing, modifications, and mechashift. She built the first form of her Crescent Rose when she was eight years old, with the help of our Uncle Qrow. He was a scythe weilder as well and he taught Ruby all she knew. She was obviously meant for that weapon because she killed her first Beowolf at the age of ten. That was only after two years of starting her training with the scythe." John looked curiously,

"Beowolf? What's that?" Yang pulled out her Scroll and pulled up an image. It showed a werewolf-looking monster. It's fur was black as tar and it had ivory plates and spines with red streaks on the plates,

"Huh, looks like a werewolf." Yang raised an eyebrow,

"Werewolf?" Zaeed took over for John,

"Yea, they're a mthological being from Earth, they are humans cursed or gifted, with wolf blood. Every full moon, the blood awakens and they turn into creatures very similar to that creature in that picture, just without the plates or spikes. They could only be killed by destroying their brain or with pure silver. And their bite transfered the curse from person to person, spreading it like a disease." Yang blinked, that sounded nasty.

"Yea, I can tell by the look on your face and I agree, they are nasty creatures, but they're little more than animals when it comes down to their intelligence." Yang nodded, Beowolves were similar, they, along with all other Grimm, only gained intelligence when they survived battle and aged. Zaeed cocked his weapon,

"Anyways, back to the weapons, how long would it take to build one for me?" Yang sighed,

"First off, weapons like these, you need to build yourself, as well as infuse your Aura in it while in the forging process so it bonds with you and shapes itself to you, so to speak. That's what makes the weapon truly unique and capable of working with our Semblance. If I didn't infuse my Ember Celica with my Aura while I was making it, it would look very different and would likely melt or explode every time I activated my Semblance." Zaeed seemed to understand, if only slightly,

"So how do I get one of these 'Auras'?"

"That's an easy one. You already have it, all of you do. Otherwise, you're a Grimm, or you're dead." Zaeed blinked as did John,

"What?"

"An Aura is basically your soul manifested, didn't John tell any of you these things? It's common knowledge on Remnant, but only huntsmen and huntresses, as well as one android, use Aura. We're also taught how to release it within another." Zaeed seemed to think as they walked up and saw a group of Blue Suns standing ahead,

"Well, time to get to work!" Yang ran forward and threw a punch, which fired her weapon. The blast flew several hundred feet, hitting one merc dead in the chest and sending him flying with an explosion. The four other mercs were frozen in shock for only a moment before they drew their weapons and began returning fire. However, between Yang, John, and Zaeed, the mercs stood no chance. John walked up to one survivor and began to interregate him. Yang smirked as he used his words carefully, just like Blake would have, to convince the merc to talk without threatening him. Yang waited for a moment while wondering what Ruby was up to, as well as wondering how the rest of the team was doing.

 **Horizen...**

Kaiden was walking next to the young woman, Weiss Schnee, as they made their rounds through the settlement. Weiss had to admit that, despite the appearance, it was a nice place. The air was clean and the landscape was beautiful. She was also fascinated at how these people worked without Dust. After giving a demonstration of the properties and uses of Dust, many settlers were amazed, some comparing her to the White Witch of the North based on her appearance and the ailities of her Aura and Dust control. She was confused by the comparison but shrugged it off as it seemed to be a compliment. Weiss turned towards the man next to her, Kaiden Alenko, he said his name was. She stared for a moment before shaking her head to clear her mind and focus on the task at hand. She was grateful for him, as well as the colonists, for taking care of her as she healed so she took it upon herself to help out around the colony, since she never was one to not repay her debts. Kaiden looked over at Weiss and smiled a bit,

"So, how're things around the colony Weiss?" Weiss smiled cheerfully,

"Everything seems to be going well. Though the targeting systems for the Anti-Aircraft Gun is still bugged." She sighed as Kaiden patted her shoulder gently,

"Don't worry, we'll have it up and working eventually, I just hope we can do it before who-, or what, ever is abducting the colonies comes here." Weiss nodded and giggled slightly,

"If my partner was here, she'd have that gun working in no time at all."

"Ruby, right? What is she like? You haven't mentioned the rest of your team very much." Weiss seemed to think and looked Kaiden in the eye,

"She's a dolt." Kaiden sweatdropped at the plain tone Weiss spoke with, "However, that's just because she's a little socially akward. From what I learned from her sister, Ruby spent most of her childhood training with her Uncle Qrow. To be honest, I never realized that she and Yang were related to Qrow the Harvester from the infamous team QRTS. Qrow Branwen was infamous for his Sword-Scythe weapon as well as his tactical and espionage skills." Kaiden nodded, he was impressed, if a young girl was trained by a man like that, she no doubt would be very skilled,

"So, she's skilled but a bit shy in crowds?" Weiss nodded,

"Yea, we managed to breka her out of her shell for the most part, but around new people, she's a bit shy still." Kaiden nodded as he and Weiss kept talking.

 **Illium...**

Blake sat in the hospital room, in silence as she stared at the strange blue woman in front of her. Said woman stared right back. It appears both of them were content to let their conversation be a silent one as they read each's personality from body language. However, neither had much luck since they both were experts at containing themselves. Liara eventually broke the silence,

"So, might I ask who and what are you?" Blake's exposed ear twitched,

"My name is Blake, I'm a Faunus. Now what about you?" Liara smiled softly,

"My name is Liara, Liara T'soni, I am an Asari. So how was it you appeared in my office a few days ago?" Blake shook her head,

"I don't know, all I know is I was running behind my team leader as we ran from an explosion and suddenly I woke up here." Liara could tell Blake was holding back information, but she couldn't blame her. This Blake seemed like a catious person. That was very wise of her, however, it hindered Liara's ability to help her,

"I see. I can tell you're holding back information, but I will not force you to tell me what it is. However, if I'm to be able to help you, I may need to know something about the situation. An explosion does not, after all, cause a person such as yourself to fall from what appeared to be an actual crack in reality itself." Blake blinked, her feline ears pointing up directly being the only sign of surprise or shock. She fell out of a crack in reality? Blake sighed as she gently face palmed herself, whipsering just loud enough that Liara was able to hear,

"Oum above what've I gotten myself into this time?"

 **On the Normandy,,,**

Ruby was looking over Garrus' sniper rifle, while he hovered nearby. He wanted to make sure the red head didn't break it, however, to his shock, the young human knew exactly what she had to do to avoid damaging any parts. He had taken his sniper rifle apart many times to clean and mantain it, and yet this girl beat his record of disassembling it. His record was 1 minute and 57 seconds, however Ruby took it apart, damn near perfectly at that, in just 50 seconds. Now she was modifying the heat exchange to act like Mordin's pistol, where ejecting the Thermal clip would not be needed.

Garrus was so impressed, he was considering asking her to teach him. Which was crazy since she was younger than him by a few years. Garrus shook his head and saw her put the part she was working on down and move to another. Garrus shifted so he could see her work more clearly. He was also surprised by her expression. Her normally happy, cheery, and energy-filled expression was now one of pure, absolute focus as her hands moved the tools like they were a part of her hands. He was so busy watching, he never noticed a small crowd had gathered to watch as well.

 **Back on Kolrus...**

Yang mentally shrugged, Ruby was probably tinkering with some weapons again. As for the rest of their team, who knew what they were up to. Yang turned as a bullet flew by. Yang shot a few bursts and two mercs flew off the edge. Yang then shot behind her and at an angle, sending herself flying over John's head and onto an overhang, where she began to tenderize a few poor Blue Suns mercs innards with her weapons and her martial arts skills. Even Zaeed winced at how brutal Yang was in a life and death fight. What was really annoying, however, was the Blue SIns commander, Jedore, was constantly babbling on and on over the loud speaker. Yang got so annoyed at this that she started yelling back at the voice, much to John's amusement.

Soon, they found themselves standing before a Krogan, this one was different from any they had met before. He was calm, or rather emotionless. Yang tuned out the conversation as John questioned the Krogan for information on Okeer's location. Conversations weren't her strong suit, she was a fighter, with a bit of medical training in case she or someone else on her team did something stupid or just got hurt from fighting or from the environment. Yang looked as the Krogan walked over to a wall past some containers and waist-high barriers. He proceeded to grab a large metal sheet, and, picking it up with only slight difficulty, threw it to the side,

"Eh, I could've done that." John and the Krogan looked at Yang, the Krogan suddenly stepped closer to her, making Yang look a bit surprised as he spoke,

"You, you smell different from these two. You have such strong power hidden away. Your eyes show of great experiance in combat."

"Well yea, I've been training to be a huntress since I was 10 years old. So yea, I do have plenty of experiance." The Krogan just stared for a moment before turning and walking away. Yang looked at John and Zaeed with confusion. They just shrugged and John motioned them to move along. As the went down the ramp to the lower area, shouting and shooting was heard as someone shouted about the Krogan clones being released. Yang blinked, that Krogan talking to her before was a clone?

'I've really gotta pay more attention to my surroundings, I'm pretty sure it was mentioned several times when I wasn't paying attention.' Yang sighed and shook her head to clear it of any thoughts as she got ready to fight. Suddenly two Blue Suns mercs ran into the open below them, firing into alleyway they came from. Upon seeing the three, the Blue Suns turned their guns and begant shooting at them. This irritated Yang as a Krogan came into view and shot at the Blue Suns merc closest to it,

"These guys are idiots. Attacking us when they should worry about the Krogan." John smirked as he heard Yang quietly complain,

"Well Yang, we ARE more dangerous than the Krogan." Yang snorted,

"True." Yang leapt forward and leapt off a wall to boost herself into the air without wasting her shot and soon she was right above the two mercs and the Krogan. John and Zaeed were amazed at how Yang seemed to glide upwards into the air. Suddenly Yang's fists caught on fire as she twisted herself and flew downwards, directly in the middle of the group. As soon as she hit the ground with her fist, John and Zaeed were shocked to see the ground almost ripple under the force of the impact, sending the three enemies flying away with severe burns on their bodies. John smirked,

"Damn, that was one hell of a move." Zaeed just nodded in agreement. They ran on ahead, past more guards and Krogan, which Jedore was complaining about over the loudspeaker, and they made it to a small medical lab with a corpse of a human and a Krogan. In the room was an Asari. She seemed to know John, something about studying something called Indoctrination on Virmire? Yang looked around as John let the Asari go, Zaeed making a comment that he should've killed her to make sure she wasn't Indoctrinated. Yang smirked and decided to try and tease John,

"Lay off him Zaeed, he probably has a thing for girls with blue skin." John just chuckled,

"Nah, I'm not interested in her, there's already one woman in particular I've got my eye on. She can be a real hot head sometimes though." Yang blinked as she looked at John as he smirked at her. Yang smirked back, seeing that he was teasing her back. Yang smirked as she crossed her arms under her bust,

"Well, you'll-"

"Can we please just get going? You two can get a room when we get back to the Normandy, but for now, I'd rather finish this mission." Yang blushed along with John, both not noticing the other's blush. John shook his head and sighed,

"Right, Okeer is just in here." Yang and Zaeed nodded as they entered the room. Okeer stood before a console and next to a tank filled with an unknown fluid and a Krogan in silver and white armor. Okeer turned towards them,

"I saw your approach, somewhat impressive, especially the blonde female. So, you've come to take me from this wretched planet, then let us hurry, it will not be long before-"

 _"I tracked the signal to for the Krogan release, Okeer of course. Gas the chamber and dump the information, we'll start anew elsewhere."_ Okeer looked out the window where Jedore was,

"She would destroy my greatest creation with a valve? Shepard, if you want my assistance, stop Jedore. I will do what I can from here!" John nodded and Yang smirked and punched her fists together, her Aura lighting up a bit around her,

"Alright, time for a good old fashioned beat down!" Zaeed rolled his eyes and smirked at the thought of killing more Blue Suns members. The three ran out the far door, John stopping to scan a computer for useful information. They made it to the area just below the lab and Jedore typed on her Omnitool and deployed a YMIR-Mech and released 4 Krogan clones, all equiped with various pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles. Yang looked at the YMIR and shrugged, obviously not impressed,

"Seriously? That's the best she's got? That thing is about half the size of an Atlesian Paladin. Go take care of the Krogan and of Jedore, I got this." Jedore heard this and was confused before she saw Yang leap forward and slam her entire fist through the chest piece of the mech. What she didn't know was Yang superheated her fist in order to melt through the Mech's armor and used her inhuman strength to bust it's shields. Yang smirked as she began focusing. She heated her fingers so she could melt holes for her hands to grip onto the now struggling mech. Yang's smirk widened when she yanked her fist out and leapt off,

"Back up guys, we're about to have some fireworks!" John and Zaeed took cover and Yang extended her Ember Celica into it's Complete Melee form and it began to glow with intense heat. Yang pulled her arm back and threw a punch. This punch, much to everyone's shock, launched a fireball into the fist-sized hole in the YMIR mech's chest. It flew in perfectly and suddenly the mech stopped and seemed to start twitching. Everyone watched in shock and awe as the mech suddenly started to bulge and expand in random places. Bits of it were bulging and popping like bubbles, releasing what everyone saw as molten metal. Yang turned away from the mech and looked at everyone else,

"I put a condensed sphere of superheated fire in the center of the mech, when my fireball hit that sphere, it destabilized it and this... is the result." Suddenly the YMIR mech exploded in an enormous fiery blast right after she finished speaking. Yang smirked as the flames licked at her back and her hair as it rushed outwards and past her but she ignored it. She was fire proof after all. Jedore was in shock and had nearly dropped her rocket launcher. John smirked at the obvious distraction and lined his sniper rifle up with Jedore's head, and fired. Jedore's shield failed immediately and she grabbed her rocket launcher tightly to prevent it from dropping and ran for cover, unfortunately for her, Zaeed had his sights on her as well, and with one quick shot finished her off.

Soon after the last Krogan was killed, an alarm went off in the lab above them. John told them that EDI scanned the room and determined it was full of toxic gases. Yang then grabbed one of the tanks, ripped half of it off, and proceeded to throw it through the window overlooking the Breeding Tank ground. Zaeed and John were wide-eyed, they knew Yang was strong, but they never knew she was THAT strong. Yang ran forward and pulled her scarf over the lower half of her face, and he held her breath for good measure, before she shot herself upwards and into the venting room. Unfortunately, Okeer was already on the ground in front of the console, dead. John and Zaeed ran in a few moments later as the room was now fully vented.

The Console in front of Okeer's body had a flashing light and John tapped it. It was a recording of Okeer's dying moments. He didn't know why the Collectors were abducting human colonies. He claimed that John would find use in his final creation, the 'perfect krogan', his grunt, his legacy, et cetera. John contacted the Normandy after the video ended,

"Normandy, prep the cargo bay, Okeer was a no go, but we've got a package instead. And he's a big one."

 **Tuchanka...**

Urdnot Wrex was looking at the corpse of the strange creatures that ran into his meeting chamber. They not very big, when compared to others the Krogan faced outside the walls of their clan grounds, but their black fur/skin/scales, and white plates and blood red eyes made these creatures seem slightly intimidating to the younger Krogan, to the less experianced ones. However, since Wrex had faced down the Reaper, Sovereign, not much else had an effect on him. Despite not feeling fear towards the creature, he did feel a bit of unease about the situation,

"Something's gonna happen soon, and I don't like it one bit." Suddenly the earth beneath the very building began trembling, almost as if a Thresher Maw was moving below. However Wrex knew better, if it WAS a Thresher, it would've attacked, so it was something else. And that filled Wrex's mind with even more unease.

* * *

 **And Chapter five is now done. Seems things will be starting to happen on Tuchanka pretty soon. A new threat is starting to rise on Tuchanka, and who knows where else the Grimm will appear. And Grunt will be awakened in the next chapter, who should be in the room with John when he wakes up Grunt? I was thinking Yang since she could match Grunt's strength, but I'll leave it up to my readers to decide, because others could also help in some way.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the sixth chapter, which may be one of the longest one's I'll do. Now we get to the Horizen mission(which isn't exactly a short mission, thus why the chapter will be longer than my normal chapters) shortly after the awakening of Grunt, and Yang and Ruby decide to butt in on the next assignment given to Shepard.**

 **Also, it seems only one person voted on my poll, so I guess Yang won it, by technicality, so Yang is the one with John when he wakes up Grunt.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

John stood in the West cargo bay, he was waiting and studying the Krogan in the tank, trying to see if it would be hostile or if it would be smarter than that. John looked over his shoulder at Yang, who was standing nearby in case the Krogan became hostile. He knew doing this alone would be stupid so he asked Yang to help as her unnatural strength would come in handy. However, he had her out of sight just to have the element of surprise. John looked up,

"Standby I'm gonna open the tank and let him out."

 _"Cerberus protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology."_

"He's either a powerful addition to the crew, or a time bomb. I'd rather deal with it now."

 _"Very well Shepard. The controls are online. The switch, and consequences, are yours."_ John nods and hits the flashing button on the holographic console and steps back at the fluid drains. Soon the tank opens spilling the Krogan out and he pukes up the fluid from his lungs and stomach. He stands up slowly and looks forward, at John. After blinking a few times, he stands up fully and charges, pinning John to the wall. Yang moves behind the krogan and grabs his hump before throwing him across the room, hitting the tank he was contained in. He stands up and chuckles before sniffing the air,

"Two humans, one male, one female. Before I kill you, I need a name."

"My name is Commander John Shepard, and I don't take threats lightly, so you'd best calm down."

"The name's Yang Xiao Long, big guy, and good luck trying to kill us, it was me who tossed you like a pebble after all." John motioned Yang to calm down, since he saw her eyes slowly shifting from their normal bright violet to red. The krogan shook his head,

"Not your names, mine." Yang and John look confused and looked at each other before looking at the krogan in question. The Krogan continued speaking,

"I'm trained, I know things, but the tank... Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow. Warlord, legacy, grunt... grunt. 'Grunt' was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me." John raised an eyebrow,

"You wouldn't prefer 'Okeer'? Or 'Legacy'?" Grunt just grunted,

"It's short. Matches the training in my blood. The other words are big things I don't feel. Maybe they fit your mouth better. I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do, fight and determine the strongest, but his imprint has failed. Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you two." John stood up straight, making Yang and Grunt look at him,

"I have a good ship and a strong crew, a strong clan. You'd make it stronger." Grunt narrowed his eyes,

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you." John narrowed his eyes slightly,

"Our enemies are worthy. No doubt about that."

"Hmm. Hmph. That's... acceptable. I'll fight for you." John smirked,

"I'm glad you saw reason, otherwise I'd have Yang here tear you apart after I put a bullet in those eyes of yours. And trust me when I say, she can beat you into submission on her own so add me in and you'd be dead within a minute." Yang smirked as she cracked her knuckles and her hair started to release heatwaves. Grunt simply smirked,

"Offer one hand, but arm the other. Wise Shepard. If I find a clan, if I find what I... I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you. I will remain here should you need me Shepard, do not disappoint." John nodded and he and Yang left the room towards the elevator. Yang smirked at looked at John while they were in the elevator,

"I love a man who takes charge. You are definitely one hell of a catch and I want to be the one to catch you." John smirked at her,

"The feeling's mutual Yang. I, myself, prefer a strong woman who can think for herself." Yang just giggled and kissed his cheek as the elevator door opened and Yang got out, waving to him with a wink,

"Next time we stop somewhere to resupply, you're taking me to dinner." John just laughed as the door started shutting,

"Sure, sounds fun Yang." John walked towards the Galaxy map as Yang walked to the armory when the Yeomen, Kelly Chambers, spoke up,

"The Illusive Man has an urgent message Commander." John raised an eyebrow but nodded. He walked through the armory, drawing the attention of Yang and Ruby while going to the Comms room. John stepped in and activated the holo-comm link. A holographic circle appeared and showed John the room the Illusive Man was residing in. Large, dark, empty and a massive window showing a sun that was both red and blue on different parts of the star. The Illusive man was a man with greying hair, a, no doubt, extremely expensive tuxedo, and unusual, seemingly synthetic, eyes. He was sitting in his chair, smoking a cigarette as usual,

"Shepard. I think we have them. Horizen, one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems, just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasures against the Seeker Swarms?" John shook his head,

"Not yet." The Illusive Man seemed unsurprised,

"Let's hope he works well under pressure. There's something else you should know. Miranda informed me of those two unknown humans you recently picked up, apparently another one may be on Horizen, working alongside one of your former crew members, Kaiden Alenko." John looked surprised,

"Well this is a surprise, but a welcome one, I know Ruby and Yang will be happy to hear that. But last I heard of Kaiden, he was with the Alliance, what's he doing in the Terminus Systems?"

"Officially, it's an outreach program to strengthen the Alliance's relations with the colonies. But if they've sent Commander Alenko then it must..." John looked with a raised eyebrow as the Illusive Man focused on something else, and then he heard Ruby,

"Huh, you look like a Roy Harper." John turned to see Yang and Ruby poking their heads into the Holographic ring, thus they are able to see the Illusive Man. However, Ruby's completely random choice of first words made the Illusive Man inhale on his cigarette a little too quickly and he began coughing,

"I- I beg your pardon?" Ruby simply smiled innocently as she and Yang walked in entirely so they were in view,

"Sorry, but you really do look like a Roy Harper." The Illusive man simply shook his head and looked at John,

"As I was saying, if they sent him, there must be something big happening. So if you wish to know, ask him when you meet up with him on Horizen, if you do that is." John crossed his arms,

"The Collectors just happened to pick a colony with one of my former crew members? I don't buy it being a coincidence."

"It shouldn't be a surprise that the Collectors are interested in you. Especially if they are working for the Reapers. They might be going after him to get to you." John nodded,

"Send the coordinates, we'll head straight there." The Illusive Man simply nodded and typed on the console of the chair, sending the coordinates of the colony Horizen to the Normandy,

"This is the most warning we've ever had Shepard, good luck." John nodded and the comm link was shut off. John turned and looked at Ruby and Yang,

"Get ready you two, we have a colony to save, and it appears one of your teammates is at this colony. Ruby and Yang nodded, a serious expression on their faces as they left to get ready. John walked out of the room and looked up,

"Joker, set a course for Horizen, I've gotta see the professor."

 _"Aye aye, commander."_ John walked into the lab a few moments later and saw Mordin hard at work,

"Tell me you have something." Mordin looked at the cage holding the Seeker and then at John before smiling and nodding. He walked over to a small computer and began typing, pulling up a hologram of John's armor.

 **Horizen...**

Kaiden was walking along with Lilith and he seemed slightly agitated. Lilith looked at him,

"Still having problems with the targeting matrix?" Kaiden nodded,

"Yea, without them the cannons will be useless, and this colony will be defenseless. It doesn't help that no one is helping out very much with this. Can't they see the Alliance just wants to make sure they are safe?" Lilith and Kaiden stopped,

"Kaiden, many people came to the Terminus Systems because they don't trust the Alliance. It's nothing personal."

"Well that's actually very childish. If someone offers you something to defend yourselves for no cost except for friendship, a smart person would accept." Lilith and Kaiden turned and saw the woman, Weiss Schnee, walking up to them. Kaiden smiled when he saw Weiss, who returned the smile,

"How are you doing Kaiden? Lilith?" Kaiden sighed as he rubbed the back of his head,

"Well, aside from feeling frustrated at the problems with the cannon, things are doing alright." Weiss simply smiled and walked up and held his hand gently with a soft smile,

"You need to take a break Kaiden, this is getting to you." Lilith simply smiled as she watched their interaction. Suddenly the sound of an enormous ship entering the atmosphere was heard and everyone looked up to see a strange ship, that looked partially made of stone, appear in the clouds. Suddenly a strange sound was heard as Seeker Swarms were released. Weiss drew her Myrtenaster and Kaiden pulled out his assault rifle. Upon seeing the mechanical insects, Weiss turned to the colony,

"RUN!" She turned back and the chambers in the hilt rotated and stopped before the symbols on the blade turned red and Weiss swung her rapier elegantly and fire suddenly burst out in a stream burning hundreds of the machines. However, despite this, more kept coming anf eventually they swarmed the colony, stinging and paralyzing many in the colony every few seconds. Kaiden was nearly caught but Weiss used a Propulsion Glyph to move Kaiden from a few Seekers. Weiss grabbed his arm and they ran. Weiss occasionally turned and used Burn Dust to release streams of fire to burn some nearby Seekers but otherwise they focused on running.

Despite their best efforts, Kaiden was soon stung and before he was paralyzed completely, made Weiss hide so she wouldn't be caught. Weiss followed his instructions very reluctantly, but she stayed nearby as she saw strange aliens arriving and collecting the colonists. Yet for some reason, they ignored Kaiden. Why was that? Weiss hid as a small group of these aliens walked near her hiding spot. She'd figure this out later, right now she needed to make sure she survived,

 **"Assuming direct control... We are the Harbinger of their perfection. Prepare these humans for ascension."** Weiss peaked out as she saw one of the aliens glowing as if filled with nearly too much power for its body to handle. Suddenly a shattering sound was heard and the aliens, and Weiss turned to see an enormous crack in the air. Weiss silently gasped at what came through. A horde of Beowolves, and very old ones by the look of them.

 **On the Kodiak Drop Shuttle...**

John looked at the team with him. He decided that since he was saving a colony, a small team would not be the best, so he called everyone. The downside of this was the Kodiak was now very cramped. Yang was in his lap, 'to make room' she had said, but really she was trying to tease him, and he knew it. John however, focused on the mission at hand and when the shuttle came to a halt, hovering just a foot off the ground, everyone hopped off and the shuttle took off. John activated pulled out his gun as did everyone but Yang and Ruby. Everyone noticed the weapons seemed sleeker and seemed more efficient and looked at Ruby, who seemed to grow shy under their gaze. John chuckled along with Yang before he turned to Mordin,

"Are you certain the countermeasures will work Mordin?" Mordin simply shrugged,

"Not entirely. No proper testing done, this field test for countermeasures. Should stop light swarms, from detecting us. Also, Yang, Ruby, you're sure you do not require armor?" The two in question shook their heads and Ruby spoke,

"Nah, our Aura will protect us, it's way better than those kinetic barriers you have because it protects from stronger melee attacks than your shields can stand, so little bug bites won't get through since we know they're dangerous." Mordin and John nodded and the group began moving forward. Yang and Ruby seemed shocked to see a group of what appeared to be steel blue-grey humans with lights for eyes. The rest of the group just growled and shot them quickly. One ran up to yang who simply grabbed it and slammed it into the ground with enough force to leave an imprint. Ruby ducked and weaved around the Husks surrounding her with unnatural ease. Her expression was calm, as if she wasn't surrounded by the synthetic creatures. She bent backwards and pulled out her Crescent Rose and shot each one in the head with ease, completely obliterating their heads with the heavy impact of the shot.

Yang and Ruby looked at the creatures,

"What are these things?"

"Yea, they're pretty creepy looking. Weaker than Beowolves though." Ruby nodded in agreement. John stepped forward,

"We call them husks. Through the use of Reaper technology, the Geth, a synthetic race created 300 years ago, used giant spikes we call Dragons Teeth, to absorb all organic matter in a human corpse and replace it with highly advanced mechanical parts into these creatures." Yang and Ruby grimaced. That sounded very unpleasant. The group continued forward and came across several Collectors. The Collectors turned and fired on them. The ensuing fire fight distracted them when a wave of Ice suddenly covered them. Yang and Ruby looked surprised before smiling brightly as a white-blue clad figure ran into view. This figure was bowled over by a red blur,

"WEISS! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" Suddenly Ruby was smacked on the back of the head by Weiss, who was rubbing her ears,

"Ugh, you dolt, what have I told you about screaming in my ears? Wait... Ruby? You're alive! Oh thank Oum!" Weiss hugged Ruby before she let go and smacked Ruby again,

"That's for worrying me close to death. What were you thinking, overcharging your Semblance? You could've torn your body apart from the strain!" Ruby had a pitiful look on her face and Weiss just sighed and held her face in her palm,

"Well, at least you're alive. But anyways, we've got a problem, a BIG problem."

"We know, Ice Queen. Aliens are abducting colonies all of this section of space and Johnny boy here is on a mission to kick their 'collective' asses." John chuckled slightly as everyone else groaned and Weiss face palmed before shaking her head,

"No, this is a different problem. The Grimm are here!" Ruby and Yang stopped smirking and adopted serious looks, while the rest of the group looked surprised. Ruby spoke up, taking command of the trio instantly,

"How many and what kinds?"

"A horde of Beowolves, the weakest being Alpha class, with a few Elder class Beowolves as well." Yang looked surprised and she activated her Ember Celica,

"Well then, looks like these guys get to see three professional Huntresses in action. Let's get to it." Ruby looked at John,

"You guys go deal with the Collectors, we'll deal with the Grimm." Zaeed stepped forward,

"I thought you said Beowolves were among the weakest type of these Grimm." Yang shook her head,

"Common Beowolves are, but Alpha class Beowolves and Elder Class Grimm are in an entirely different league. Alpha Beowolves are Beowolves who've lived for about a century, so they are pretty damn smart. Elder class Grimm are, at the youngest, just over five centuries old and very intelligent, some are even capable of understanding human speech." Ruby shook her head,

"Look, we'll explain the classes of Grimm later, right now we've got a colony to save!" John nodded and looked at his team,

"Kasumi, Zaeed, and Mordin. Go with them, the rest of you, with me." The group split inbetween two groups.

 **(A/N: John's group will go through the normal Horizen mission so I will focus on the RWY's plus Kasumi's, Zaeed's, and Mordin's side of the mission)**

 **With RWY and Kasumi, Zaeed, and Mordin shortly after splitting up...**

Zaeed, Mordin, and Kasumi were gaping at the size of the Beowolves. The smallest ones were three meters tall with the largest being a total of seven meters tall. They all were covered in large ivory plates and despite their eyes being pure crimson, you could almost see their intelligence as they stared at the group in front of them. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all had their weapons ready,

"Ready guys?"

"Of course."

"You bet I am little sis, let's kick some tail!"

"Iced Dawn!" Ruby, Weiss, and Yang charged forward in one of their many practiced combination tactics. Weiss shot Yang into the air, and used a Speed Glyph to make Ruby shoot forward at a quick pace without her semblance and she herself made a few small glyphs and began using minor Dust spells to freeze the feet of the Beowolves to the ground. Yang then slammed into the ground, shattering the ice which sent shards into the Beowolves to distract them from countering and then Ruby rushed forward and began to expertly slice them into pieces. However, after they finished with this group, more Beowolves began showing up.

Zaeed, Kasumi, and Mordin all began shooting the Beowolves. Some fell with a few lucky shots but soon they were handled. Ruby motioned everyone to follow her and they moved to another area. Weiss gapsed seeing Kaiden. He was surrounded by a pack of Beowolves. He was obviously struggling and this simply attracted the Beowolves. Weiss shot forward and sliced through the pack. Ruby and Yang leapt forward and began fighting the rest and Ruby turned to Weiss,

"Unlock his Aura, it might be the only thing that could free him!" Weiss nodded and placed a hand on his chest and began muttering before she was surrounded by a white glow and soon Kaiden had a dark blue glow surrounding him. Kaiden soon stopped glowing and he fell to the ground before looking at his hands. He looked up as the last Beowolf was finished. Kaiden looked as Weiss kneeled next to him, looking a bit tired,

"Weiss, are you alright? What happened?" Weiss smiled slightly,

"I'm fine, I just awakened your Aura. It turns out an Aura can negate the paralysis caused by these aliens." Kaiden nodded as he stood up shakily but he felt his body getting better, even the slight headache he always had thanks to the L2 implants was slowly going away. Weiss stodd up as well and Ruby and Yang walked up, Ruby twirling her Crescent Rose as she collapsed it and placed it on the magnetic strip on the back of her waist to hold it. Weiss gestured to Ruby and Yang,

"Kaiden, these are my teammates, Ruby Rose, and her sister Yang Xiao Long." Yang waved with a smirk,

"Hey, so you're the one John kept talking about on the way here. He spoke highly of you." Kaiden blinked,

"So, John really is alive?" Yang and Ruby nodded and Kaiden looked down with a sigh,

"So is the rumor that he's working for Cerberus true as well?" Yang raised an eyebrow along with Ruby,

"I wouldn't say working for, working with at the best, using them at the worst. But that really shouldn't matter, after all, no one else is helping these colonies." Weiss blinked,

"Kaiden told me that he was told the council was helping." Yang snorted and crossed her arms,

"That's a load of bull and I can't believe he bought it. I spent a few hours talking to them and the only reason they wanted to help me was because our planet is undiscovered and they want it cataloged and added as something known as a client race planet. That and to make sure we aren't a threat. They say they help other species but it's just a load of crap." Weiss looked at Yang in surprise along with everyone else, but Zaeed, Kasumi, and Mordin more out of the well thought out response,

"Hey, don't go thinking I'm stupid. I'm may be a thrill seeker who does stupid crap to make things more fun, but I'm actually very good at reading body language and can tell when I'm being lied to. Those councilors may claim to be there to help everyone, but their more interested in furthering their own status in the galaxy. The only reason I never called them out on it was because I had to find the rest of my team, and they would let me tag along with Shepard if I played naive." Kaiden looked down and sighed,

"That makes sense, as the newest species in the galaxy, many aliens think we're barely above Vorcha. So I wouldn't be surprised if they ignored everything happening to Humanity." Weiss frowned and crossed her arms,

"This council sounds corrupt, I believe they should be replaced with more fair members, who will do what's right for the galaxy, and not just themselves." Everyone nodded in agreement. They then checked their ammo and moved on to the next area. There they found Collectors fighting the Beowolves. Ruby motioned everyone to hide and pulled out her Crescent Rose. She stepped forward before vanishing in a whirlwind of rose petals. SUddenly the Grimm and the aliens were cut down, almost simultaneously.

"As usual sis, you're an absolute terror on the battle field." Yang was the only one not shocked at the speed the enemies were defeated. Suddenly one more Collector flew down and after landing, began to glow and released a burst of energy,

 **"Assuming direct control!"** Weiss looked surprised,

"It's that voice again, it kept possessing different bodies throughout the colony. However, it only seems capable of possessing one body at a time." The alien looked at them with it's glowing yellow eyes, and it pointed at Weiss, Yang, and Ruby,

 **"You three. You are unknowns, more powerful than other humans. Your DNA shows you are similar to humans, but these abilities are unknown. You will be captured and studied."** Yang slammed her fists together, her hair flaring out as her Aura built up, making her hair catch fire,

"Yea right ugly, we're gonna beat you down when we find you."

 **"You are unable to comprehend our might. We are the Harbinger of Humanity's perfection."** Ruby stepped forward, her silver eye hardening drastically,

"Well 'Harbinger', we are the Huntresses of Remnant, sworn to defend the innocent from those who seek to harm them. You threaten the innocent of this galaxy, so we will stop you." Zaeed and Kasumi looked surprised at the normally cheery red hooded woman, being so cold and serious,

 **"Resistance is futile, you cannot wi-"** Suddenly he was cut off, metaphorically as well as literally as Ruby appeared in front of him and slowly dragged her scythe through the possessed alien's body. The hyper-vibrating blade making it ease to penetrate the shield and cut through the armor-like skin. Ruby glanced at the glowing eyes with her one eye,

"We WILL win, your forces cannot match against a trained Hunter with an Aura and Semblance." With that the alien seemed to burn away into ashes. Yang looked at Ruby with a smirk along with Weiss, and everyone ran down to catch up as Ruby began walking towards another area, heading towards John and his team.

 **Near the targeting array for the AA-cannon...**

John swore to himself as he ducked behind a truck. As he did so, an enormous blast from the Praetorian hit the truck, but luckily did not destroy it. He was really getting sick and tired of this thing, and everything they did seemed to just piss it off even more. John growled and peaked out before firing his 'aquired' Collector Particle Gun at the giant alien mech. Suddenly a red burst of energy flew and slammed into the side of the Praetorian and knocked it askew before Yang leapt into the fight and began slamming her fist into the top of the mech, releasing a burst of fire from her Burn Dust shells and her semblance and denting the top as well. After that a wave of Ice slid into view and froze several Husks and Collectors. These were then smashed by John's and Ruby's teams rather quickly.

Ruby herself casually walked into the fight, her Crescent Rose held aloft as she easily dispatched Husks who got near her. She even managed to cut a Scion in half with a casual swing, which shocked everyone. Suddenly the Praetorian released a biotic burst that sent Yang flying off of it. Ruby vanished and caught Yang in midair as Weiss made a Platform Glyph for the two sisters to land on. Weiss then called forth a glyph and she tossed a Spark Dust into the glyph, turning it yellow before a massive bolt of lightning in the shape of a spear shot out and pierced through the Praetorian, causing it to explode instantly. Weiss fell to her knees and began panting, having used quite a bit of Aura in that Dust spell. Kaiden ran over as the last of the enemies were finished off. However, despite their efforts, the Collector ship had captured about 98% of the colony. The ship ignited its engines despite the AA Gun firing upon it and it took off. A man ran up and cursed as he found out so many colonists had been taken. He looked at Kaiden and the rest of the group before sighing,

"Damn it, they're gone, they're all gone." Kaiden was surprised that the man wasn't trying to blame him in some way, but he figured that he earned his trust. Kaiden helped lift Weiss and he looked at John. John looked back and frowned slightly,

"Hey Kaiden." Kaiden looked at John carefully, considering what Yang told him earlier and he sighed,

"Hey Commander. So the rumors of you being alive are true. As are the other rumors of you working fo- with Cerberus." John noticed the slip of tongue but didn't comment on it,

"Yea, just working with them in order to protect the human colonies, but once the Collectors are dealt with, I'll be heading back to the Alliance and end the agreement between me and the Illusive Man."

"I'm telling you John, his name is Roy Harper. Just look at his face and tell me he doesn't look like a Roy Harper." Kaiden and John looked at Ruby as she spoke, with her arms crossed as she looked with her single, bright silver eye and John shook his head with a sigh. Kaiden sighed as he looked at Weiss who was leaning against him, and Ruby followed his eye before she blinked,

"Oh yea, I almost forgot." Everyone looked at Ruby for a moment,

"We need to unlock your Aura, every one of you will need it." John looked confused as he saw Weiss and Yang nod with serious expressions,

"Why is that Ruby?" Ruby looked him in the eye,

"The Grimm are here."

 **Illium...**

Blake had told Liara everything. Since she was apparently Ruby's semblance simply teleported her to another world, she explained the situation. Liara was surprised at the idea of humans and human-like species possessing abilities that defy physics, such as Blake's clone semblance. Liara seemed to be in deep thought as she began to figure out a way to help track Blake's teammates and maybe earn a favor in finding and getting rid of the Shadow Broker and saving her friend who was captured by the illusive information dealer. However, Liara had a guess as to where Blake's friends were. She recieved reports from people keeping an eye on John for a favor they owed her. These people reported a girl in yellow, and a girl in red traveling with John Shepard and his crew. Liara looked at Blake, who seemed to sense her intent to tell her something important,

"Actually, I do believe I may know where your friends are." Blake looked surprised as she listened carefully.

* * *

 **And Chapter six is now done. Now things will be getting even more interesting, Ruby plans to train John's crew as Huntsmen and Huntresses, unlocking their Aura and helping them discover their Semblances. I'd like you, my readers to give me ideas for what their semblances should be, also I'll be introducing the creature from Tuchanka in the next chapter, but I need a name for that as well. It's basically a new Grimm type, but I'm not sure what to call it yet. If you think of anything, let me know, I'll take the idea into account and maybe set up a poll if I see multiple names, and I'll let you all decide on what it should be called.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	7. AN 2: Semblance List

**Author's Note:**

 **Hello readers, Darkus_Cyril here, This chapter isn't really the next chapter, just a list of Semblances for John's squad members and some non-combat members of his crew(i.e. Chakwas and Joker), this is only the ME2 team but it will carry over when I decide to do the ME3 Vol. of this story. Now I will not claim all of these ideas for myself as I am using ideas people offer me, and I only thought of a few of the semblances myself, so I will put the name of the ones who came up with the idea for the Semblance.**

* * *

 **John's team member | Semblance | [The one who came up with the idea]:**

John | Breaking Indoctrination(area of affect)/Physical Augmentation | [Brucio]

Miranda | Thin diamond shell over her skin to protect from most damage | [Brucio]

Jacob | Strength Boost | [Darkus_Cyril]

Mordin | Speed Semblance | [Darkus_Cyril]

Garrus | Hyper senses(Time appears to slow for him when Semblance is active){might get renamed} | [Darkus_Cyril]

Kasumi | Shadow Walking(blending in with the shadows) | [Brucio]

Zaeed | Weapon Augmentation(able to add an elemental effect to his guns' shots) | [Darkus_Cyril]

Jack | Damage boost(powered by her rage, it increases her biotic impacts) | [Darkus_Cyril]

Grunt | Salaris-class armor skin(Like Colossus from X-men) | [Allard-Liao]

Thane | Adaptability(Stops the progress of his disease, but doesn't cure it) | [Darkus_Cyril]

Samara | Emotion/honesty detection / minor genetic manipulation(able to cure Ardat Yakshi rather than kill) | [Brucio]

Tali | Advanced adaptability and limited synthetic manipulation | [Brucio]

Legion | telepathy(not mind control, Legion can only talk to you and hear you, not force you to do anything) | [IceBite]

Kaiden | Glyphs(unique Glyphs that he can enhance with or use to enhance Biotics) | [Brucio]

Liara | Impenetrable barrier towards gunfire, Biotics, and most melee, but stronger melee attacks(i.e. The Shadow Broker and large mechs) can break through it | [Brucio]

Joker | Physical Augmentation/slight regeneration | [Brucio]

Karen Chakwas | Healing glyphs | [edboy4926]

* * *

 **And there are the Semblance I have chosen for the members of John's crew, plus Kaiden. Look forward to the next chapter, and I will see you later readers,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the seventh chapter. Now we're getting to the unlocking of Aura, but not right away, only John, Mordin, and Miranda will have their Aura unlocked, and their Semblance will probably come in the next chapter.**

 **Now, as per the Poll results, Kaiden will be dropped off to go back to the Alliance rather than go with John and the RWY of team RWBY.**

 **Also, I have watched episode 3 of Vol. 3 of RWBY a few times, I love how the made Qrow, he's almost exactly as I expected, only a bit more of a drunk than I expected, rather than a smoker like some people portray him(myself included). His personality is almost spot on to 'Remnant Reclaimer'. Serious but casual and a smart a** at the same time.(Censored for any underaged readers) So now, Qrow is officially my favorite character in the series. XD**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Everyone stood in the briefing room as Weiss, Ruby, and Yang stood at the end of the table. Ruby managed to make a device capable of linking their Scrolls with the Holo-display. Ruby loaded the Grimm files and sync'd her Scroll up. Suddenly the holo-display showed a large file of images and text logs for each image. Ruby stepped forward,

"Alright, now it's time to begin your first lesson, Grimm 101. The Creatures of Grimm are soulless creatures who desire nothing more than the death of Humans, Faunus, and now the other aliens of the galaxy. Grimm are all identified the same way. One: skin, fur, scales, or feathers that are as black as tar. Two: red streaked ivory plates as hard as stone covering parts of the body and the face. Three: burning red eyes with no noticable pupil. Now Grimm come in many forms, some appear animal-like in nature, such as the three most common Grim, the Ursa, the Beowolf, and the Boarbatusk. However, others, like the Creep, do not resemble any known animal on Remnant." As Ruby spoke, she pulled up images showing what she was talking about. The other members of John's crew were there as well. Even Jack.

"As Grimm age, they grow bone plates over most vulnerable sections of their body, or in the case of the insect- and reptile-like Grimm, molt into harder, shells/scales, however, the way these develop is dependent on the Grimm itself. Ursi develop hard yet sharp spines all over their back and thicker claws. The Beowolves develop light, yet strong plates and spikes on their arms and, after a few years, on their backs to defend them from rear melee attacks and to keep them swift on their feet. Boarbatusks, however, have the hardest of plating, and incredibly thick hides so they are not very fast, nor are they incredibly powerful, however, they are the toughest of the three most common Grimm in the world, normally only an Ursa can tear through their armor, but older Beowolves can as well." Grunt chuckled,

"They sound like good opponents to fight." Yang smirked and nodded,

"Got that right, but don't underestimate them. We once saw a Beowolf that was about three hundred years old. Damn thing was incredibly fast and very powerful. Though it seemed hesitant to fight Ruby, it probably sensed she was the most dangerous out of us all and tried to avoid fighting her directly." Grunt looked at Ruby who was standing in place with an innocent expression on her face,

"She can't be that str-" Grunt stopped as a flurry of rose petals surrounded him and the serrated blade of Crescent Rose appeared at his neck,

"Who's not that strong, Grunt?" Said krogan just looked surprised before laughing,

"So you are strong, I look forward to facing you in battle one day." Ruby rolled her eye and, after removing it from Grunt's throat, collapsed her enormous scythe and walked back to the display. She turned and saw Kaiden talking to Weiss and smiled before continuing on with her explanation of the Grimm and how her world came to fight them. The Normandy was currently on its way towards a Space Station frequently visited by Alliance soldiers. They planned to drop him off since the ships on Horizen were disabled and destroyed by the Collectors to prevent the colonists from escaping. They would have gone to an Alliance base, but the ship was flying Cerberus colors at the moment so more than likely the Alliance would've arrested them before listening to them, and that wouldn't help with the mission in the slightest.

Weiss was instructing Kaiden to focus, to calm himself and allow his Aura to guide him in starting up the strength to activate his semblance. Weiss, of course, was surprised when a small Glyph appeared between his feet before it faded quickly. However, Weiss, who had seen, studied, and made, hundreds of Glyphs herself, did not recognise it. Kaiden started panting from exhaustion and looked up,

"Did anything happen?" Weiss nodded, still looking surprised,

"I wasn't expecting you to start manifesting your semblance right away, usually it takes a few weeks at the very least, before your semblance shows itself, but it's good that yours showed up when it did, your semblance is like mine, you can use Glyphs." Kaiden blinked and smiled as Yang walked up,

"Good job buddy, you found your semblance faster than Ruby did, it took her about a week and a half before her semblance activated." Kaiden looked a bit sheepish and rubbed the back of his head,

"Ah, I think I just got lucky. So Weiss, you said that for your glyphs to work, you need to invision what you need them to do and form it while concentrating?" Weiss nodded,

"Though, your glyphs looked different than any I've seen before. I don't know what your glyphs are capable of." The three of them seemed to think for a moment before Yang blinked,

"Maybe his semblance is tied to those, er, what were they called again? The blue glow that you and Miranda do?" Kaiden blinked,

"You think my glyphs affect my biotics? That doesn't make any sense." Yang shrugged,

"Hey, my partner can make clones out of her shadows, Ruby can run faster than a bolt of lightning, literally. When she was twelve, she got so hyped up on sugar that she ran out in a storm and we saw her playing Lightning Tag in the middle of the woods. She dodged every bolt of lightning even when it was halfway to the ground, she was grounded for about a month and to make sure she didn't use her semblance to get away and do it again, dad put some of his heaviest training weights on her ankles to slow her down. Hehe, anyways, you seem to forget that our semblances can sometimes defy physics." Kaiden nodded in agreement. Everyone behind the three of them were chuckling as Ruby blushed in embarrassment from Yang's story,

"Yaaang, you promised not to tell anyone about that!" This made most of the group burst out laughing, (Miranda, Kasumi giggled softly and Mordin and Jack chuckled quietly) as Ruby pouted.

 _"Commander, We're coming up on the Relay and we'll be heading towards Cartia Station soon."_ **(A/N: Not a real place in the game, I know, I was just making something to continue this portion of the story)** John looked up as he responded,

"Got it. Alright, Weiss, it'll probably be a good idea for you to write down what Kaiden needs to do to learn about his semblance, since we're dropping him off." Weiss frowned slightly but nodded and led Kaiden by the hand out of the room to get a datapad to put the information he'd need on. Kaiden followed as John turned to Ruby, who was still pouting, while she closed out of the files and unsync'd her Scroll and left with her hood up while everyone was still laughing. Though he noticed Ruby had a slight grin and a mischievous look in her eye and smirked as he saw her eye dart at Yang occasionally. John immediantly knew Ruby was planning on pranking Yang, He'd seen a few of his friends pulling pranks on their siblings when he was traveling with his parents to one of the remote colonies. John chuckled as he saw Yang suddenly shiver slightly, but brushed it off as nothing. Poor Yang, she had no idea what was coming.

 **An hour later, at Cartia Station...**

Kaiden walked to the airlock and turned to see Weiss walking up quickly. Kaiden smiled seeing the datapad in her hand, but focused on her as she seemed to shuffle her feet slightly as if embarrassed,

"Well Kaiden, here's the- um, everything you need to know about Glyphs. I... I hope to see you in the future. J-just to check on your progress, make sure you're using your semblance right!" Kaiden smiled and grab Weiss's hand, and gently pulled the woman into a hug,

"Thanks for everything Weiss, and I look forward to showing you how much I've improved. Maybe after a quick stop for lunch?" Weiss smiled and nodded, but separated from him as John, Yang, Garrus, and Kasumi walked up, and she handed him the datapad as John stepped forward

"Well, it was good seeing you again, Kaiden." Kaiden nodded with a slight grin,

"Yea, you take care now, alright? Also, nice to see you again Garrus." The Turian nodded with a smirk, as Yang stepped forward and held out her fist,

"Catch ya later Kaiden, maybe when we get this situation sorted out and we find Remnant, I'll invite you and everyone else over for some fun at a club I know." Kaiden nodded,

"Sounds like fun. Well, I'll see you all later." Everyone waved as Kaiden got out of the ship and left the area to contact the Alliance to pick him up. Weiss looked out of the cockpit window as the pulled out and left the station, heading to the Mass Relay to make the jump to Illium. Weiss silently sighed and turned, only to bump into the chest of her taller, blonde teammate. Yang smirked and in an unusually high pitched tone she spoke,

"Helloooo~ Let's chat Ice Queen."

"What? AH!" Yang grabbed Weiss's hand and proceeded to drag her to the elevator and they stepped in and Yang hit the switch for the fifth level and the elevator made it's way down, very slowly. Yang smirked and faced Weiss,

"Well now Ice Queen, when did you get melted?" Weiss blinked in confusion,

"I'm sorry, what?" Yang chuckled,

"You know exactly what I'm saying Weiss. You never dated anyone since Neptune." Weiss crossed her arms,

"Neptune and I both figured out that it was a phase, he was a 'cool guy' and I was the 'cold girl' as everyone called me." Weiss had a deadpan expression as she looked at Yang who had a slightly curious expression on her face,

"Well, Kaiden is different, I may not know him as well as you or John, but I can tell he's a humble guy. But he's definitely not afraid to get into a fight." Weiss nodded with a slight smirk,

"Of course not, he's a soldier, but he's also incredibly clever, and very handsome..." Yang smirked, Weiss blinked and looked at Yang,

"How long have you known Yang?" Yang shrugged,

"Since we caught up with you and you freed Kaiden from the paralysis." Weiss blinked,

"No, seriously?" Yang laughed as the elevator made it to the 5th level and she stepped out,

"I'm totally serious Weiss. I just hope it doesn't turn out badly for you two. This is one hell of a mess we've gotten ourselves into, even bigger than the Cinder Fall situation." Yang took up a serious tone and expression as she looked at Weiss who hit the button for the second third level. Weiss nodded,

"I hope so too Yang." The door to the elevator shut and Yang walked over to take a look around the shuttle bay. She smirked as she began to think about what Illium will be like, and if John would take her out like he promised.

 **Illium, a day later...**

Blake was reading the book she had on her before she was transported here. It was the latest in one of her favorite series, not Ninjas of Love, as she had read the last one published, but a new fantasy series she found called the Dustling series. She found the plot fascinating and she was on the fourth book in the series. Luckily she had the rest of the series loaded on her Scroll in a reading app she had loaded, just in case she lost her books while fighting, traveling, or whatever else may have happened. If there was one thing Blake loved more than almost anything, it was her books. Blake looked up and sighed,

"I wonder if Liara is right. Will they come? I hope so." Blake looked back t her book and smiled slightly as she focused on the name of the main character. One reason she found this story so interesting, was because the main character had a striking resemblance to her team leader, red hair, childish attitude outside of a fight, but instead of silver eyes, the main character had heterochromia, so her right eye was silver, but her left was a gold color. In the story, the world was vastly different than Remnant, the only people with semblances were those with the heterochromatic traits. The main character seemed to be made into a personal warrior for her king, but she wanted to be free.

Blake shook her head and, after marking her page, she closed and put the book up. She stood up and walked to the bar and sighed. The Asari Matriarch at the bar was wiping a cup clean,

"Need a drink?" Blake nodded,

"Yes please, nothing strong though. I'd prefer to keep a clear head." The Asari nodded and began to grab her a cup and make a drink. Blake looked down as the Omnitool she was given by Liara began to blink. Blake activated it and her eyes widened,

 _'Blake, come to my office in five minutes. The Normandy was sighted entering the system. It seems they are on their way here.'_ Blake blinked and suddenly she had a bright smile. The Asari noticed and smirked,

"Good news I take it?" Blake nodded,

"Yea, I have time for the drink though." The Asari nodded and placed the drink and Blake downed it at an even pace. After she finished it she stood up and left for Liara's Office, after paying for the drink of course.

 **The Normandy...**

Miranda, Mordin, and John all seemed to enjoy the feeling of their Aura being unlocked. It filled their bodies with quite a bit of energy. Mordin looked and saw Ruby standing next to him and he smiled, the light orange glow of his aura fading,

"Thank you, Ruby. This is most fascinating." John turned to Yang and nodded, his Aura being purple in color,

"Thanks Yang."

"No problem John, you still owe me that date though." John chuckled as Miranda was opening and closing her hands, looking at the bright gray glow fade from them. She turned to Weiss and nodded, who nodded back. Everyone turned to John when he stepped forward,

"Alright, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Garrus, Jacob and Miranda. You're all coming with me. Garrus, you'll be going with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang to look for clues if their final teammate is here on Illium. Miranda and Jacob will go with me. Miranda asked for a favor and I plan to help her out with it." Miranda smiled slightly and nodded in thanks. John nodded as he turned and saw Yang staring at him with her arms crossed. John blinked and looked confused. Yang walked forward and looked John in the eye,

"Yea, no. I'm coming with you. Jacob can go with Ruby, Garrus, and the Ice Queen."

"Hey! What have I told you about calling me that!" Yang ignored her as she stared John in the eye. John chuckled slightly and shook his head,

"Alright fine, you can come along Yang." Yang nodded and walked away somewhat stiffly. John sighed and rubbed the back of her head,

"I never took her for the jealous type. But it's not like I'm taking Miranda on a date or something." Miranda nodded in agreement.

 _"Commander, we've arrived on Illium."_ John looked up slightly,

"Alright, let's head on out. Everyone get geared up. EDI let the rest of the crew know that they are cleared for temporary shore leave." Everyone left the room, along with an _"Affirmative"_ from EDI, and began to go gather their supplies. Ruby was in the armory counting out her clips and rounds. She frowned as she knew that while she had plenty right now, she WAS going to run out one day if they didn't find Remnant soon. For the fight against Cinder, Ruby had brought a few dozen clips and well over 70 special rounds that she had in her extra large bag on her hip. Now she had 25 of those special rounds and twenty clips left. Yes, each clip held about 20 shots each but she still wanted to save them. So she would only use the sniper rifle portion of Crescent Rose if she had need of it, not just for weak enemies.

Ruby also counted Yang's ammo and saw that Yang had only 15 ammo belts left. With six shots each, that was not a lot of ammo left compared to when they started this little journey of theirs. Weiss more than likely had plenty of Dust so she didn't bother looking for them to check. Since Weiss had such amazing control over Glyphs, she didn't need a lot of Dust for the Dust Spells she casted. Ruby looked up suddenly and felt a smile appear on her face,

'I feel like something good is about to happen.' Ruby looked back and began to check on the parts of Crescent Rose to make sure nothing was wrong with her precious weapon. As per usual, Ruby found nothing wrong and she smirked as she extended it and collapsed it a few times to check if it needed oiling. It did not as it extended almost silently, only a slight hissing of the metal gliding against each other as it switched between it's scythe and compacted forms.

 **With Yang...**

Yang smirked as she waited for the elevator, her arms crossed under her bust as she tapped her foot. Something in the air seemed to excite her, made her feel slightly battle ready, but she couldn't tell what it was,

'Not sure why, but I feel like this trip will be exciting.'

 **With Weiss...**

'I wonder what Kaiden will do while we are doing this crazy mission.' Weiss stepped out of the elevator and walked to the living quarters, where she had hid her Myrtenaster, along with her supply of Dust, under her cot. A few people looked over as Weiss began to check the levels of Myrtenaster's Dust chambers.

* * *

 **And Chapter seven is now done. John and his crew have arrived at Illium and Blake and Liara are awaiting them in Liara's office. Also Miranda's Loyalty mission will take place in the next chapter as well. Yang will, of course, be there and will help Miranda in more ways than just fighting. You'll see what happens in the next chapter.**

 **Also, did anyone catch my reference in the story? It's a reference that I sort of doubt many people would get right away. It's not exactly subtle, but I don't think it's overly obvious either unless you know what to look for.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the next chapter of RWBY: Journey Home. Now, we finally get a reunion for Team RWBY, and then Miranda's Loyalty Mission occurs as well. One more thing, I figured that a few hours was actually pushing it for Semblance revelation, so I decide that no one will get their Semblance this chapter, I'll save it for another the next chapter instead. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **And one last thing, for those who didn't get it, the reference I made in the previous chapter was the book, Blake was reading, known as 'Dustling'. It was a reference to a book that I read a few years ago called 'Graceling'. Which is a interesting book, that I would recommend for fans of the Fantasy/Medival genre. However, unlike what was said in the previous chapter, there are only 3 books in the Graceling series, at least so far, I do not know if the author plans to continue the series or not.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Yang and Ruby were practically bouncing in excitement, hoping they would meet their final teammate on this world. Weiss just sighed and hit Ruby on the back of her head, stunning the girl slightly and she did the same to Yang. Yang didn't even flinch as she kept on grinning and bouncing in place slightly. And Weiss was crouching on the floor, clutching her now aching hand. John, Garrus, and Jacob just chuckled in amusement while Miranda just focused on her personal mission. John and his team left the airlock and walked through the connecting tube. As the door on the opposite side opened, and the group was approached by an Asari greeter. Everyone stops and looks at her,

"Welcome to Nos Astra, Commander Shepard. We've been instructed to waive all docking and administration fees for your visit." The Asari bowed and continued speaking,

"My name is Careena. If you need information about the area, it would be my pleasure to assist you." John looked confused,

"Who instructed you to waive the fees?"

"The order came from Liara T'Soni, who paid all fees on your behalf." Careena activated her Omnitool and typed on it as she continued speaking,

"She also asked that I direct you to speak with her at your convenience. She's near the trading floor." John nodded,

"Thank you." Careena smiled and bowed,

"Again, welcome to our city, Commander. Please enjoy your stay." Careena moved out of the groups way and they moved on. Garrus soke up soon after they entered the building, where a Volus was making a purchase on a computer,

"Liara is here? I never expected this. It's certainly a surprise, but a welcome one, that's for sure." Yang looked at John,

"So, this Liara was a member of your first team?" John nodded and turned to Yang,

"Yea, she's the daughter of Benezia, a powerful Asari Matriach who was indoctrinated into following the rouge Spectre, Saren. Unfortunately, Benezia was killed on Noveria, right in front of Liara." Yang flinched, she knew that feeling all too well. Due to HER own mother sacrificing herself to hold open a portal while holding an elite group of White Fang members to let team RWBY and a few prisoners escape the make-shift holding facility. Raven had managed to get away with them, but not before losing her arm from a lucky swing of one White Fang member's sword. That, added with the dozens of cuts and gashes from fending them off led to her bleeding out very quickly. Yang nodded at John, who saw a look of understanding. He decided to change the topic of conversation,

"So, anyways, lets get going." As they continued on, EDI contacted John and advised him to speak to Liara about the whereabouts of his two new recruits, Thane and Samara. They passed a Volus and an Asari debating over whether to sell or buy something. They turned and saw a stair case and a door along a wall and the staircase had a holo-sign that read 'Administration'. John figured that was where they needed to go so he led the group up the strairs, but Miranda spoke up,

"Shepard, I will wait for you at the location I mentioned." John turned and nodded as they continued up the stairs, past an Asari intern. They opened the door and saw Liara typing away on her computer. She looked up and seemed only slightly surprised before she turned and looked in a corner of the room. John followed her eyes and saw a black haired woman with a sword standing in the corner, blending in with the shadows. Had it not been for his Infiltrator training, he wouldn't have noticed her at all. John smirked as the woman looked at him and he elbowed Yang before nodding in her direction. The woman was wide-eyed now as she saw Red, White, and Yellow figures. Yang gasped as she saw her and soon Ruby and Weiss also noticed her. Blake stepped forward, out of the shadows, with a small smile before a red blur crashed into her, knocking the two of them to the floor with Blake letting out a small yell,

"Blake! It's so good to see you!" Blake was surprised but smiled softly,

"Hehe, it's good to see you again too, Ruby." Yang walked up and picked the two of them up and hugged them,

"Good to see you partner!" Yang looked over at Weiss along with Ruby, who had a pout on her face,

"Ice Queen, get over here and hug." Weiss blinked,

"Excuse me?"

"Weiss! Pleeeeaaaassssseeee?" Weiss looked at Yang and Ruby and sighed before joining the hug, knowing if she didn't Yang would find some way of making her join anyways,

"It's good to see you again Blake, now I finally have someone other than these two dunces to talk to." Blake laughed quietly as she hugged them back. Meanwhile, Liara and John, Jacob, and Garrus smiled as they watched. John turned to Liara,

"It's been a long time Liara." Liara smiled and nodded,

"Indeed it has John. When I had heard you were revived, I almost didn't believe it, but my sources proved to me it was true." John raised an eyebrow,

"You have sources now?" Liara turned and walked back to her desk and sat down with a serious expression,

"I've been working as an information broker, so yes, I have need of sources across the galaxy. Since you... since the attack on the first Normandy, we've all gone our separate ways. Speaking of which, it is good to see you again, Garrus." Garrus nodded with a slight smirk,

"It has been a while doctor." Liara nodded and looked back at John before Blake spoke up,

"Ruby, Yang, Weiss, this is Liara T'Soni. She helped me recover when I arrived here."

"Hey!"

"Hey 'Lia', thanks for taking care of my partner!"

"Greeting Liara, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Liara looked at the three woman and nodded before turning back to John. Meanwhile Ruby dragged Blake over to the group before she noticed something,

"Blake, your ribbon!" Yang and Weiss looked over and blinked when they saw Blake's second set of ears were exposed for all to see. Blake just shrugged,

"Considering who watched over me while I healed, as well as all of the other aliens around here, I figured hiding my cat ears was the least of my concerns." Ruby tilted her head in a way Blake found adorable and thought for a moment,

"Hmm, I guess that's true." Blake smiled softly as Ruby continued dragging her over to the group,

"Hey guys, this is Blake, she's the final member of Team RWBY!" Jacob looked at her ears and blinked in surprise, along with Garrus,

"Well, it seems Shepards doing the usual job of finding unusual people for his group. Still, it's a pleasure to meet you. Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec officer and member of Commander Shepards little group."

"I'm Jacob Taylor, I've heard Ruby and Yang talk about you a lot." Blake nodded and shook their hands. Blake looked over at Ruby and Yang, who were smiling brightly. Weiss had a softer smile and she nodded towards the black haired faunus. Blake looked at Garrus and Jacob,

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my teammates while we were separated." Jacob and Garrus nodded. Both curious how such a calm woman could stand being around two hyperactive women and an ice queen, as Yang referred to Weiss. They figured she just grew used to the antics of her teammates.

"So, that's how Cerberus got a hold of my body." Everyone looked over at John and Liara,

"Yes, I'm sorry, but I could not let the Shadow Broker simply hand your corpse over to the Collectors. I'm very sorry." John shook his head with a slight smile,

"Don't be Liara. Without your help, I wouldn't have been brought back, and the human colonies in the Terminus Systems would be in even greater danger. Plus I wouldn't have had the chance to make some... interesting friends." Yang smirked and walked forward, before leaning on John from behind and wrapping her arms around his neck gently,

"Oh yea, if you didn't do what you did, blue girl, I'd never have met a fine guy like this." Yang winked at Liara, who looked surprised, but nodded anyways. Ruby giggled and Blake and Weiss rolled their eyes with a smirk. Garrus walked forward as John stood up and looked at his Omni-tool,

"Liara, we need information on the whereabouts of an Asari named Samara, and a Drell known as Thane Krios." Liara nodded and leaned forward,

"Samara, the Asari Justicar, was last seen down near the security station before she left in a skycar for somewhere, just through the doors and past the shipping area below my office. As for Thane Krios, the Drell assassin was last seen taking a skycar towards his supposed target. A corperate executive by the name of Nassana Dantius. I believe he was in contact with an Asari someone named Seryna in the Cargo transfer level just below my office before he left." John nodded and looked over at Garrus, Jacob, and the finally reunited team RWBY.

"Alright, Yang, come with me, we're gonna help Miranda out with making sure her sister is safe. Blake you can show Ruby, Weiss, Jacob, and Garrus around the city. Once we get back, we'll go look for Thane and Samara." Blake smiled as she led her group out of the room and down to the markets. John and Yang waved good-bye to Liara when she called out,

"John, if you have the time, I need some assistance clearing away a debt I owe. If you get the chance, go to select terminals and access them and I'll be able to retrieve information that I need to clear the debt." Yang raised an eyebrow along with John, but John nodded,

"Sure, no problem Liara." Liara nodded,

"Thank you, and to ensure our conversations are private. Use the our comm frequency from the old days." John nodded and configured the comm link on his Omnitool. Yang pouted slightly,

"I really need to get one of those. My Scroll can't connect because our tech is all different." Liara frowned slightly and looked at John,

"Yea, I kinda forgot to get Yang and Weiss an Omnitool. Ruby got one custom made for her by a Salarian by the name of Mordin Solus."

"Ah, the former STG scientist. I had heard he started a clinic somewhere out in the Terminus Systems, Omega, if I remember correctly." John nodded,

"Yes, he's actually the one who found Ruby while we were looking to recruit him for our mission."

"Yes, gunning for the Collectors. Along side Cerberus as well." John raised an eyebrow,

"Normally I would say that info is not public, but I get the feeling that you do your job extraordinarily well." Liara nods with a slight smirk,

"I take my job as an Information broker very seriously. Now, I believe you and Yang had somewhere to be?" John nodded and left, with Yang waving to Liara, as she and John walked to the meeting point with Miranda and her contact. Miranda and her contact, an Asari commando named Lanteia. Lanteia looked up and frowned slightly,

"It's about time. Now, as I was saying, Niket, one of Ms. Lawson's trusted contacts, offered to take Oriana's family to the terminal instead." John crossed his arms as Yang leaned against a railing, watching everything going on around her carefully.

"What information do you have on this mercenary group?" Lanteia looked at John and Yang,

"I've confirmed that they're Eclipse Mercenaries, hired by an organization that Ms. Lawson warned us about. However, they haven't done anything illegal, so I can't call law enforcment. All I know is that they are keeping an eye out for you Ms. Lawson." Miranda stepped forward slightly,

"You did the right thing Lanteia. Now, we'll go with Niket's plan. Shepard, Yang, and I will take a skycar and attract their attention. Let Niket escort the family to the terminal and if need be, give him access to the family itinerary." John looked at Miranda,

"So our plan is to get shot down by Eclipse mercs while your sister and her family get away?" Yang smirked and stood up straight before cracking her neck,

"Well then, let's get started." Miranda, Lanteia, and John looked at Yang in surprise that she wasn't finding the mission crazy like John and Lateia did, while Miranda was surprised that Yang agreed without question. Yang looked at everyone and crossed her arms,

"Hey, I got a little sister too. I'd take a rocket to the chest if it meant she was safe." 'Not like it would do much anyways, the hardest I've ever been hit was by a Paladin MK VII. That damn thing made the Paladin I fought in my first year at Beacon seem like a Atlesian Knight 150. And I still whooped its ass.' Yang smirked as she remembered that fight. Miranda nodded and looked at John, who smirked at Yang and nodded,

"Let's get started." Miranda and Lanteia nodded while Yang flexed her hands.

 **In the Skycar, near the terminal...**

John, Yang, and Miranda were sitting in the skycar as they flew towards the Terminal, but towards the cargo areas rather than the transport bay. Suddenly a gunship rose to their left and Miranda cursed,

"Damn, they'll be dropping mercenaries in the cargo bay." Yang smirked as she sat up from her reclined position and activated her Ember Celica,

"Want me to smash them?" Miranda looked back in surprise at how excited Yang sounded. John just laughed. The ships landed and a dozen mercs climbed out, including one with flash-forged armor. The mercs began shooting, but when the leader saw Miranda, he stopped them. The skycar crashed in cover but the three survived. The skycar opened up and Miranda, John, and Yang stepped out. Miranda walked forward, with her head held up,

"Since you're not shooting, I suppose you know who I am." The Merc leader smirked,

"Yea, you're the woman who kidnapped our boss' little girl." Miranda scoffed,

"Kidnapped? This doesn't involve you, take your men and leave, now." The merc leader leaned forward,

"Think you got it all lined up, huh? Captain Enyala is already moving in on the kid. And your little contact won't help you. She knows about him after all." Miranda looked shocked and Yang stepped forward, but John signaled her to stay back. Luckily, her Ember Celica were in their inactive mode, so she could still take them by surprise if she needed to.

"You're not getting Miranda's sister. If you push this, it'll go badly for you." The merc stepped forward,

"Captain Enyala ordered us to give you one chance to back away. While we've been talking, my men have been lining up shots. When I say the word, we unleash hell on your squad. So I suggest you walk away nicely, unless you want things to get ugly." Yang noticed a container moving over the back of the group and she smirked. She twisted her wrists and straightened them out as the sounds of her Ember Celica's mecha-shift expanded and enveloped her forearms and fists. She fired a blast and leapt over John, making the merc leader look up in shock, as Yang fired a blast at the cable, dropping the container onto the mercs, which then exploded. The merc leader looked back at the explosion, before Miranda shot him. Yang landed and threw a few punches, launching her explosive rounds at the remaining mercs. A few got close to her, before they wound up on the ground, with burns, broken bones, and internal bleeding.

The mercs saw Yang decimating them and they began shooting her from cover. However, Yang's Aura protected her as she smirked and ran into the midst of the bullets and began shooting and pummeling every merc in her way. However, John and Miranda were dealing just as much damage. John managed to get to a good sniping point and was picking off the mercs one at a time while Miranda was shooting and using her biotics to throw, and destroy the mercs who faced against her. They eventually began making their way through the Cargo bay, killing Eclipse mercs along the way. When they reached an elevator, Miranda walked into it while John grabbed a comms link that was active nearby. John handed it to Miranda,

"I'll patch us in so we know what we're up against." After typing on her Omnitool for a moment Miranda seemed hesitant about something,

"Shepard, I owe you an explanation. Oriana IS my twin sister, genetically, but my father... Grew her when I was a teenager. She was supposed to replace me, but with what my father did to me? I couldn't let that happen to her, so I rescued her. She's almost a woman now." Yang stood nearby with her arms crossed,

"So what did your old man do to make you hate him so much?" Miranda looked over and sighed,

"Well, for one, I wasn't born, but rather made. I was grown from a batch of his own DNA, meant to be the perfect replacement for him when he passed away, unfortunately, I did not like being used as a tool for my father, so when I learned of Oriana's 'birth'. I decided to free her from the fate I was given, of constant obediance training by my father, the endless hours of studying, the expectation to be perfect. It would ruin Oriana's chance for a normal life, like it did mine." Yang nodded. John looked at Miranda,

"Why didn't you tell me we were rescuing a kid?" Miranda shook her head,

"She's not a child, she'll turn 19 this year. But at the time, it didn't seem, necessary. There are those who would use Oriana to get to me. And I'm very protective of my sister." John seemed to consider for a moment before nodding,

"If Eclipse knows where Oriana is, they'll be moving in on her soon. Let's get moving." John, Miranda, and Yang entered the elevator and set the destination. Miranda spoke up again,

"I'm worried about what the merc said, if they got to Niket, then this will be much harder than I planned. As for our progress, according to the specs I read, we'll need to got through the cargo processing yard to get to Oriana. Also, watch what you shoot. The cargo processing yard also transports hazardous materials, many of which are volatile." Yang smirked and cracked her knuckles,

"Oh, don't worry, I'll avoid the hazardous material. I can make explosions on my own after all, I don't need help with that." Miranda smirked along with John,

"But the Eclipse Mercenaries don't know that, so it will be very interesting. Also Yang, I must say, this Aura is most useful. Many times my barrier would've failed were easy enough for my aura to withstand." Yang nodded,

"Of course, your aura reserve is pretty large, almost as big as Jaune's. Since Aura is tied with your mentality as well as your soul, your determination as well as your, mostly pure, soul gives you an incredibly powerful aura to use. In fact, I think your Semblance is in the beginning stage of starting to reveal itself, if only slightly." Miranda looked at Yang,

"What do you mean?" Yang smirked,

"You might not've noticed, but I did. Some of the shots were deflecting off of you. Not the direct shots, just shots that came from the sides at an angle." Miranda and John blinked and looked at each other before Miranda looked at her hands,

"I don't feel any different." Yang snorted,

"Of course not. It is YOUR semblance, it'll feel perfectly natural. Even before my semblance was revealed, I was always considered freakishly strong and my body temperature was higher than normal. Ruby, was always quick on her feet, and her mind was able to percieve the world around her much faster than anyone else. That's why she was so hyper and excitable as a kid. She saw everything as slower than her, minus any others with a speed-type semblance." Miranda seemed to understand and looked back at her hands before the elevator made it to their destination. They readied their weapons and made their way through the cargo processing yard, taking out Eclipse mercs the entire way.

Suddenly a notice went out about Niket, and him switching over the family to captain Enyala. Miranda was in denial and disbelief. John reassured her and Yang patted her back sympathetically. When the elevator arrived, Miranda, John, and Yang walked out. Miranda was silent as she stared at the man next to Enyala and an Asari holding a datapad. The man narrowed his eyes slightly for a moment before his eyes widened slightly,

"Miri." Enyala dropped from the crate she was sitting on,

"This should be fun." She pulled her weapon off of her back and aimed at the trio. Miranda, Yang, and John readied their weapons. Enyala seemed confused by Yang's weapons but was cautious all the same. The Asari freaked out and ran, but Enyala simply turned, and shot her. Miranda had a look of hatred in her eyes as she held her gun out at Niket and Enyala,

"Niket, you sold me out." John tilted his head towards Miranda slightly,

"How do you want to handle this Miranda?"

Niket, how could you betray me? You were my friend, you helped me get away from my father."

"Because you wanted to get away! If I'd known you kidnapped a baby-"

"I didn't kidnap her, I rescued her." Niket scoffed slightly,

"From a life of wealth and happiness? You were just trying to get back at your father." Yang scoffed this time, drawwing attention to her,

"Wealth and happiness? Please, my teammate Weiss was rich, and she hated that life. Always be perfect, never show emotion. Friendship is a weakness, and use anyone you can to get more power for yourself. Those were the exact words her father told Weiss when we first met him." Miranda scowled,

"That sounds so much like my father. So tell me Niket, that would've been Oriana's life. Would you let her go through that?" Niket seemed surprised, and he looked down, thinking. John spoke up,

"If Niket knows about Oriana, that means your father does as well. We need a new option." Niket stepped forward,

"He... doesn't know of Oriana. I kept it private because I knew Miri had programs hidden in her father's systems, spy programs. Only I know."

"Which means you're the only loose end Niket. I'm sorry, I didn't want it to end this way... I'll miss you..." Before she could fire her gun, John grabbed her wrist, pushing the gun upwards,

"Miranda wait. You don't want to do this." Mirand yanked her arm from John's grip as Yang moved closer to the group,

"This has to end here Shepard. My father will continue searching for Oriana."

"Maybe Niket can help. He can talk to your father... Say that you got here first." Niket had a look of defeat,

"I-I'll tell him you hid her, that I don't know where she is." Yang moved suddenly and was between Niket and Enyala. Yang looked Enyala dead in the eyes,

"Don't think I didn't notice that your blue bitch." Everyone turned their attention onto Yang, Niket, and Enyala. Enyala dropped any pretense and raised her gun directly to Yang's face,

"Go right ahead and stay still, at this range, any barrier or kinetic shielding will be useless." Yang simply smirked,

"You better hope that shot kills me, or you'll be in for a world of hurt." Suddenly Yang's head was thrown back as a shot rang out in the area. Enyala seemed smug until she noticed a golden glow ripple from the point of impact and travel down Yang's body. Yang leaned her head back and had a smirk on her face. Enyala was in shock then she was sent flying by a flaming punch from Yang. Several Eclipse mercs came out of hiding and began to shoot. Yang knocked Niket to the ground and began firing her explosive rounds at the mercs. John and Miranda hide behind cover and begin returning fire. However, Miranda notices that any glancing shots are indeed delfecting off of her skin, though due to the barrier she had, she didn't feel anything different.

After defeating Enyala and the rest of the Eclipse mercs, Miranda, John, Yang, and Niket walked over to the elevator. Miranda looked at Niket with a glare,

"I still can't belive you betrayed me Niket." Yang placed her hand on Miranda's shoulder,

"Miranda, let it go. Niket is in the wrong as much as you are." Miranda looked shocked at Yang's words, but before she could speak, Yang interrupted her,

"Miranda. Shut up. You didn't tell Niket and that led to this situation. Niket doesn't know the true life of a rich family like yours. He assumes those with money are truly happy, but he doesn't realize what an ass your father is, so he assumed you held a grudge and did everything to spite him, not knowing you were trying to protect your sister." Niket looked up in surprise before he looked down again. Miranda just sighed,

"Niket, I don't want to see you for a long time. Not until I get my thoughts in order. And staty. Away. From. Oriana! Do I make myself clear?" Niket nodded and when the elevator arrived, he left. Miranda scowled in his direction before she turned and saw Oriana and her family. Miranda smiled at how relaxed and care free they seemed. Yang noticed Miranda's gaze and bumped her with her elbow,

"Go on Miranda. Go talk to her." Miranda looked at Yang and shook her head before focusing on Oriana again,

"No, she's better off not being around me." Yang fixed Miranda with a deadpan expression,

"Miranda, that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard." Miranda looked at Yang in surprise,

"What?"

"Go talk to her. She's your sister, and she deserves to know that she has an awesome sister like you." Yang smiled brightly at Miranda before Miranda nodded with a soft smile,

"If you think so."

"Of course I do. You'd give your life to protect her, just like I would for Ruby. Take this as advice from one big sister, to another. She needs you in her life, for encouragement and emotional support." Miranda seemed to think ebfore she nodded and walked up to Oriana and her family. John turned to Yang and smiled,

"That was a good thing you did, Yang." Yang smiled brightly,

"I just did what anyone like me would do. Older siblings are born first to take care of their younger siblings after all." **(A/N: Bleach reference)** John nodded and looked over at Miranda and Orianna talking. Yang smirked and the two walked over to a small cafe, where Yang got the dinner she was promised. Miranda, John, and Yang, didn't leave the terminal for an hour. Luckily Orianna and Miranda managed to get each other's contact number so they could keep in touch. When they entered the elevator to take them to the skycar port, Miranda turned to Yang with a soft smile,

"Thank you Yang, I needed this." Yang smiled back and nodded,

"Of course you did, that's why I told you to do it." John smiled and he wrapped his arm around Yang and held her close as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

 **And there's chapter 8. This was a pretty long one. Sorry for people who wanted to see John's and Yang's dinner date, but I'll have them on a real date in another chapter. A proper one for them. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, I know that Niket dies in the game, but I felt that John or the third member of the team in the game could have saved him, so I decided to let him live.**

 **Also, one more thing, check my profile, I've got a challenge posted up that I came up with recently, I included a template of sorts to help any one who wants to give it a try get an idea of how the story shoud pan out somewhat. I'll periodically be posting other challenges, so check my profile on occasion to see if this or any future ones interest you. Also, if anyone does take a challenge, I would like to see it come together, so if you would please PM me the name of the story, I'd be excited to see how it turns out.**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you in the next one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with the ninth chapter of RWBY: Journey Home. Now the group is going to recruit Thane Krios. The one's going this time will be Blake, Ruby, and John. Yang will stay with the group and maybe bond a bit with Miranda, so she can open up and possibly connect with her sister even more.**

 **Also, sorry for the late update, due to a 3+ day long storm, the internet was nonfunctioning, as well as the fact that I am playing through ME2 myself to remember the story line and the missions.**

 **One final thing, check the footnote at the end of the chapter for info on one of my future stories.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Ruby, Blake, and Weiss were sitting in the bar and lounge near Liara's office. The Asari matriarch was at the bar cleaning the counter. She nodded at Blake, who returned it and began to prepare Blake's usual drink. A unique herbal tea of the Asari that Blake was rather fond of. The Asari brings a pot of the tea after it was finished brewing and places it on the table. She then places three cups down and bows slightly before returning to the bar. Blake had introduced her team, minus Yang, to the Asari, Matriarch Aethyta. Ruby was, as usual, a bit shy, however, not as shy as she would have been at 15 years old. Back then Ruby had practically been raised by her Uncle and the Grimm he taught her to kill, so understandably, her social skills were lacking. However, time spent with her team and she soon had a growing circle of friends and her social skills grew. She was still somewhat shy around new people, but nowhere near how she used to be.

John entered the bar about three hours later and looked around before spotting the trio. He walked up and began typing on his Omnitool and looked at Weiss and Blake,

"Do you two have Omnitools? I need to know if I need to just get one for Yang or more." Blake held up one of her covered her arms and an Omnitool appeared. Weiss shook her head and John nodded. He typed on his Omnitool and looked at Yang,

"I'll go ahead and grab to Omnitools for you two, so you can go ahead and relax Yang." Yang nodded with a slight smile before sitting between Weiss and Blake. John left and Yang stretched her arms abover her head,

"Well I certainly had fun on that little mission." Blake smirked slightly,

"Do tell Yang."

"Yea sis, what happened with you, John, and Miranda." Yang laughed softly and began telling them everything that happened, making sure they weren't overheard. Soon John returned and he handed the Omnitools over to Yang and Weiss. After getting them set up they began to discuss their next move. The recruiting of the Drell assassin, Thane Krios.

"Ruby, you're with me, Blake, you're not apart of my crew, yet, so it's your choice if you stay with Yang and Weiss, or go with me and Ruby." Blake smirked,

"If Ruby, Yang, and Weiss are members of your crew, I certainly am as well. And I'm coming along with you and Ruby, I need to get back into shape after spending about a month recovering from the war in Vale." John nodded and Blake stretched before the group stood up and Yang and Weiss waved bye to the trio and John, Ruby, and Blake walked to the Cargo transfer bay while Weiss and Yang walked back to the market near the docking area for the Normandy to look for Jacob and Garrus. John, Ruby, and Blake arrived and walked up to the small 'office'. John looked at the two Asari and walked to the farthest one from the entrance.

"Seryna?" The Asari doesn't even look up from her work,

"Who wants to know?"

John crossed his arms,

"Name's Shepard. Liara T'Soni said you might have information on Thane Krios." Seryna stopped typing for a moment before standing up and looking at her co-worker,

"Tana, cover for me." She walked out of the small office area and over to the opening where the hover cargo trucks would come and go,

"Yea, I know who Thane Krios is. I may have passed some info to him, but I never hired him. What do you want to know?" Ruby walked up to the right of John, while Blake walked to his left. Seryna looked at Blake and blinked, seeing the cat ears,

"You're that unusual human that's been seen wandering the area. Who and what are you?" Blake rolled her eyes,

"My kind are known as the Faunus, my team leader and I from a planet called Remnant." Blake gestured to Ruby who nodded, a calm, passive expression on her face. Seryna looked confused,

"Remnant? I've never heard of that planet before." Blake shrugged,

"I would be surprised if you did. It's not exactly common knowledge We wound up here from unknown circumstances." Seryna blinked,

"I see. So Faunus are a human-like race with feline ears?"

"Actually, Faunus are humans with animal traits, I just happen to have cat traits."

"Oh, I see. Most curious. Though, I'm surprised you're just telling me this." Blake shrugged,

"It's not like it matters, one day I'm sure everyone will be aware of the Faunus when the people of our world finally get out amongst the galaxy." Seryna seemed to agree,

"I suppose that makes sense. Why hide the obvious things about your race when they'll one day join our society, or Council Space society." John cleared his throat,

"Excuse me, not to be rude but may we continue with the original conversation?" Seryna nods,

"What is it you need to know?"

"Where can I find him?" Seryna laughed for a moment,

"I can tell you, but you won't stop him. I checked on him when he contacted me. He never quits a job once he takes one. I used to work for his target, Nassana Dantius. I recently found out she was killing people to keep her secrets buried." Seryna turned and looked to around for a moment,

"She fired me when I confronted her. Her loss. I might've been good enough to keep Thane away from her."

"So where do we find Thane?"

"The Dantius Towers. Penthouse level of Tower One." Seryna motioned the trio to follow her to the opening and pointed out two towers, one incomplete and connected to the other from the construction zone at the top to the complete tower, Tower One he assumed.

"You can see the second tower, still under construction. If Thane is smart, he'll go in from there." John nodded,

"I'll find him." Seryna shook her head and John smirked very lightly, knowing the woman would offer her help. She seemed eager to help Thane so he figured she would help them catch up to Thane, more than likely after he killed Nassana.

"Not without some help. You don't just walk into Dantius Towers, especially now." Ruby spoke up for the first time during this little meeting,

"You're offering to help us?" Seryna nodded,

"I can get you in, but you'll only get one shot. You'd better be ready." John looked at Blake and Ruby, who smirked and nodded at John and he smirked openly this time and faced Seryna again,

"We're ready now." Seryna smirked as well,

"That's what I like to hear. We'll go tonight, as soon as the shift workers clear out of Tower Two." John nodded and the group split up, Seryna going back to her desk and John, Ruby, and Blake walking back to meet up with Yang, Weiss, Jacob, and Garrus. The group then went back to the Normandy to gear up for the mission. Ruby was in the armory working on trying to incorperate some of the Mass Effect technology into her Crescent Rose. Blake was in the armory as well, reading and listening to Ruby tell her about the things that happened when she woke up on Omega. John and Yang were talking and Weiss was talking to Miranda. Kasumi snuck into the armory but Blake called her out, shocking the petite thief, her cloaking was the most advanced in the galaxy. However, she soon began chatting with the two young women, making sure not to ditract Ruby, who was still comparing the two technologies to find any similarities to start the combination process for the two different technologies.

 **That evening...**

John, Blake, and Ruby walked up and got into Seryna's skycar. The skycar took off and began the trip to the Dantius Towers. Seryna turned to John,

"The towers are heavily guarded, and you'll find more resistance closer to the penthouse. So, are you planning on stopping this assassin?" John glanced at the asari,

"I'm just here to make sure he survives." Seryna just gave a "Hmm" in response to that as they made their way through the traffic and the Dantius Towers grew larger as they got closer,

"There's the Dantius Towers. You'll have to get up the second tower and cross the bridge to the penthouse. Her mercs will be fighting you every step of the way, but it's your best shot." John thought for a moment,

"We might find him before it gets that far." Seryna looked at John before turning her attention back to flying,

"Maybe... At least you'll know where he's headed."

"Alright let's do this." Seryna nodded,

"Hold on." The skycar dipped and made a wide turn around a nearby building, going around so they aren't in direct line of sight. They made it to Tower Two. The skycar landed outside of a windowed off room and John, Ruby, and Blake got out, but Seryna grabbed John's shoulder,

"Don't linger too long, they'll be here to greet you soon enough." John grabbed the top of the skycar and looked at Tower One,

"Good luck Shepard." John simply closed the top and the side doors closed and locked in place as the skycar took off. The trio looked around before Blake's amber eyes narrowed and her eyes twitched. Ruby noticed as Blake turned towards the room and turned as well. Ruby's breath hitched slightly as she saw a Salarian open a door on one side of the long room and John, having heard Ruby, turned as well. Ruby looked at Blake who nodded as a few LOKI and FENRIS mechs walked out, aiming at the Salarian. Blake drew her sword and the blade collapsed, revealing the sub-machine pistol at the base of the blade and she shot out the glass. This caught the attention of the mechs and they turned, only for a burst of rose petals to appear around them and for Ruby to cut through the first LOKI mech with ease. Blake ran forward and the second LOKI mech shot at her, but John was shocked when Blake suddenly blurred and she was shot. However, Blake soon faded from view and she was in front of the second LOKI mech. She leapt over and, using the ribbon, used her Gambol Shroud as a kusarigama, slicing through the mech and impaling it in the back of the head. Blake stood up straight and yanked the ribbon, pulling the weapons out of the mech, making it explode and John shot the two FENRIS mechs before it could react.

The two looked in the doorway the Salarian came from and they saw the corpse of another Salarian and the two women frowned sadly. John turned and walked to the other doorway, where the Salarian ran. They turned the corner and saw the Salarian cowering in a corner, the door beside him locked. He looked up and was firghtened before Ruby pulled her hood off and smiled softly,

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. We just want to help." The Salarian looked unsure and John stepped forward and kneeled in front of him, before noticing a bullet wound on his side,

"Who did this to you? And why?"

"We're just night workers! Nassana... she sent them after us... to round us up, but we didn't hear, they just started shooting." John raised an eyebrow,

"They just attacked you?" The Salarian nodded,

"Yes... we were too slow. It was horrible, everyone was... was screaming... The mercs said there was no time. Nassana wanted us out of the way, immediately. Then the dogs, they just- agh!" The Salarian gripped his side and groaned. John activated his Omnitool and applied medigel to the Salarian,

"Here, this should ease the pain and keep you alive until help arrives." Blake looked at him carefully,

"He's pretty tough to have made it this far with that injury, I'm certainly impressed." Ruby nodded in agreement,

"Yea, just take your time, don't strain yourself." John nodded with Ruby and the Salarian stood up shakily,

"I-I think I'm better... Find the other workers. Help them, please." John nodded and turned to Blake and Ruby,

Let's get ready. Blake, Ruby, one of you unlock the door. I'll see what our friend her knows." John turns back and starts asking the Salarian a few qustions while Blake and Ruby huddled over the door lock mechanism. Soon the door opened and John let the Salarian go. John, Ruby, and Blake walked down the hallway carefully and Ruby looked at Blake, who nodded,

"Operation Shadow, understood." Suddenly Blake walked into a shadow and completely vanished. John blinked and looked at Ruby, who simply smiled,

"We developed this strategy shortly after graduating from Beacon. It involves Blake scouting ahead using her unique talent in stealth. Only my Uncle Qrow and Yang's mother, Raven, were better than she is." John nods slightly,

"I see, well she had better be careful." Ruby giggled and waved her hand,

"Don't worry, Blake is the most cautious of the team. She is an espionage expert after all. She even led the most famous espionage squad in Vale during the war. But that's a story for another time."

 **With Blake...**

Blake hid and darted between shadows. Luckily her 'stealth suit', as Yang liked to call it, was in good condition when she arrived on Illium so it was still usable. Blake slid by some mercenaries and when no one was paying attention, she took out a few of them. She made sure not to take too many out, otherwise the others would get suspicious. She just took out enough to give Ruby and John an easier time when they came through. Blake eventually made it through several rooms and came upon an enormous room with what looked like a large service elevator for bringing the enormous supplies needed for building to the construction site on top. It was too open so she knew John and Ruby would agree to not use it. Blake decided she had gone far enough and made her way back.

Blake was halfway to the point where she left her team leader and the leader of their little squadron when she heard gunfire. Blake smirked and prepared herself. She moved behind enemy lines and drew her sword before colapsing it into it's pistol form and she grabbed the elastic ribbon on the end. She waited for when John and Ruby caught the attention of the mercs before she struck. Jumping down and landing in the middle of the enemies, Blake began to swing and shoot her Gambol Shroud in its Kusarigama form and began using he agility, speed, and flexibility to manuveur through and cut/shoot down the mercenaries while John and Ruby took them out from the opposite side.

Soon the mercs were all taken care of and the trio made their way through the building. Here and there they fought and killed several mercs, however John noticed there seemed to be less than he expected. He looked at Blake who turned and gave him a sly smirk while looking at him from the corner of her eye. John just chuckled and continued moving on. Soon they reached the large open area with the mass supply elevator. John took one look and shook his head. It was too open, anyone up top would easily be able to take them out if they road that thing. They'd be trapped like fish in a barrel. John looked around and saw another sealed door. He moved over and unlocked it, revealing more terrified Salarians. While John coerced them into calming down, Ruby and Blake scouted the area and looted some of the corpses for credits, used and/or full thermal clips for Ruby to study, and anything else of value. Blake eventually found and alternate path and called out to John, who let the Salarian workers leave,

"John, I found an alternate way up." John came over and after seeing the door and ramp upwards,

"Good job Blake. Let's keep moving!" John, Blake, and Ruby ran through the door and up the ramp. They eventaully made it to an elevator, but after defeating the guards and activating it, they soon discovered it had a YMIR mech and two LOKI mechs in the elevator. However, there was also a bomb placed in front of the elevator. Why it was there and who put it there, no one would know. John didn't question it, he just shot it, blowing up the three mechs in one go. The three then, after scouting for any remaining supplies, entered the elevator and set it to go to the top floor, where the construction was taking place.

Everyone was amazed at the size of the tower ahead. It was across an enormous bridge which was over open sky, meaning it was very windy so they needed to be careful not to be blown off the side. Blake and Ruby were impressed by the sophisticated appearance, but they frowned at the obvious ploy of the buildings. The sheer size of them obviously were meant to say 'I am better and more powerful than you'. The trio obviously did not care for people such as Nassana. John was still annoyed at her for lying about her sister, a slaver whom she 'asked' John to kill. John pulled up his Sniper Rifle and aimed down the bridge as far as he could. He began sniping the mercs that littered the bridge and staying in cover to avoid being seen. Ruby also pulled out her Crescent Rose in it's High Impact Sniper Rifle form and began assisting John and taking out the mercs. They began moving forward across the bridge and some mercs began rushing them to put the two snipers into closer range, so Ruby collapsed her scope and began using her sniper as a simple rifle instead. John swapped his sniper for a sub-machine gun. Blake was using her Sub-Machine Pistol to wear down the armor and shields of the mercs before she and Ruby rushed forward and dealt with several with their swords and scythe.

Of course, after seeing the deadly dance of the two Huntresses, many mercs turned tail and ran, only to be killed by a rocket. Suddenly a voice shouted out of an intercom. It was female, but not Nassana, John could tell that much. She was shouting at the mercs to man up and fight, to kill the intruders or be killed, et cetera. John hid in cover as a rocket flew over his head and flew far back down the bridge before detonating on the bridge itself John peeked over with Ruby and the two began sniping the rocket drones placed at the top of the stair case. John's sniper was dooing little damage, Ruby's did slightly more so she got back into cover and dropped her clip before grabbing another, this one with a circle and four arrows in the north-east, north-west, south-west, south-east positions pointing towards a dot in the center of the circle. Ruby clicked the clip into place and looked at John,

"Stay down! I got this!" Ruby got out of cover and extended her Crescent Rose, impaling the blade into the steel ground. Ruby aim as the Rocket Drones targeted her, but she was faster as she pulled the trigger once, reaimed, and pulled it a second time. What shot out of the barrel was obviously not a bullet. For one, it screeched like a bottle rocket the entire way, second, it glowed a bright red, and finally, when it hit the target, it exploded with the force of one of his grenades with a High Explosive X upgrade he used to have before the Normandy incident. These two shots destroyed the drones instantly and knocked back the Asari behind them. Ruby stood up and looked at John with a smirk,

"That, was Blast Dust, one of the synthetically combined Dust Remnant has made. Now, let's get to work. Ruby swung here Crescent Rose and vanished in a flury of rose petals. A few moments later, a shout of pain was heard and a body flew over the barrier at the top of the stairs. It was an Asari and she landed right beside John, her body cut up pretty badly. She was breathing heavily, showing she was still alive and John simply put her out of her misery with a single shot between the eyes. John and Blake ran up the stairs and the trio entered the elevator. It seemed the elevator was the last one they needed to go into as there was a button for the penthouse. John pressed it and Ruby replaced her Blast rounds with the clip she had dropped before. She then pulled out what looked like a clip for Gambol Shroud, only, rather than bullets, it had crystals in it,

'Dust crystals?' Blake looked at John as she slide the clip into her weapon,

"If my weapon has Dust cyrtals in it, my Shadow ability can take on the attributes of one of the crystals, for example, I can create a Burn Dust Shadow clone that will explode when struck. A Terra Dust clone to block an attack. And a Frost Dust clone to stop and catch my enemies in to hold them in place until I strike or they break it." John nodded with an impressed smirk, Suddenly the elevator arrived at the penthouse. John just casually strode into the large room and three mercs pulled up their weapons and aimed at Shepard, Ruby, and Blake. Nassana was facing away from the door when the mercs drew their weapons. She turned and was surprised to see John,

"Shepard? But... you're dead." John walked forward,

"I got better." Ruby tilted her head down and smirked,

'Seems Yang's rubbing off on him, but he's much funnier.' Nassana turned around fully and faced the trio, though she stared at Blake for a moment longer, more specifically, her cat ears. Nassana then faced John directly,

"And now you're here to kill me?" Blake had her katana out and Ruby had her Crescent Rose in it's rifle form.

"You really are paranoid, aren't you?" Nassana waved a hand at him and walked to the window,

"Don't patronize me, Shepard."

"Charming as ever." Nassana turned back around,

"I'm sure you find this all very ironic. First you take care of my sister, and now you're here for me. Well, you made it this far. Now what?"

"You really think I'm here to kill you?" Nassana scoffed,

"Do you have another reason for destroying my tower? Decimating my security?"

"I'm just looking for someone." Nassana walked to the side of her large desk,

"You expect me to believe that? Is it credits? Is that what you want? Just tell me your price. We can make this problem go away." Now it was John's turn to scoff, but he did so quietly as he crossed his arms,

"All the credits in the world won't make this problem go away, Nassana."

"Who the hell gave you the right to play god? I may not be perfect, but look at you. We both kill people for money. What's the difference?" Ruby responds in John's place,

"You kill people because you think they're beneath you, they're in your way. We kill people when they leave us no other choice." John smirked along with Blake,

"Couldn't have put it better myself Ruby." Blake suddenly looked up along with Ruby as Nassana started speaking, when there was a slight noise in the ventilation,

"You've got a choice. You don't have to do this. I can tell you... What?" The three mercenaries were looking up at the ceiling,

"I heard something." Nassana leaned forward and placed her hands on the table. Blake stepped back and into a shadow, vanishing completely,

"Damn it. Check the other entrances!" One merc left and Blake noticed the vent cover from before was now missing, showing the blackness inside. She narrowed her eyes as a figure came into her view before it dropped behind the mercs and killing them quickly. The figure then grabbed the startled Nassana, turned her around, and placed a gun to her sternum. The figure was scaled, the scales being a greenish color and seemed almost fish-like. His eyes were black and from the bottom of his nose to his chin was a separation between two scales on his face. Thane, because they couldn't think of anyone else it might've been, then shot Nassana and gently laid her down on the desk before crossing her arms on her chest and stepping back with a look of... remorse? And even more surprising, was when Thane clasped his hands together and seemed to begin praying. Blake stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms over her stomach. John stepped forward,

"I was hoping to talk to you." Thane looked up slightly,

"I apologize, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken." John was about to speak when Blake interrupted him,

"Prayers for Nassana, or for you?"

"Very observant. The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you three for instance. All this destruction... chaos. I was curious to see how far you would go to find me." Thane was walking around the desk and soon stood facing the trio,

"Well, here I am." John seemed confused, if only slightly,

"How did you know I was coming at all?" Thane stepped forward,

"I didn't. Not until you marched in the front door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You were a valuable distraction." John narrowed his eyes but Ruby tapped his shoulder and shook her head. Thane noticed and continued,

"I needed a diversion and you needed to speak with me. You provided what I needed, now I shall return the favor. What do you need to discuss?"

"Someone's been ubducting entire human colonies. We're going to stop them. The culprits are a race called the Collectors." Thane walked to the window,

"I've heard of them. Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

"They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos, too."

"A fair point. You've built a career on preforming the impossible." Thane looked down in thought,

"This was to be my last job. I'm dying. Low survival odds do not concern me. The abduction of your colonists does." John, Blake, and Ruby frowned when he mentioned he was dying, and John spoke up,

"I hadn't heard that. Is there anything I can do?" Thane looked at John,

"Giving me this opportunity is enough. The universe is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die." Blake was surprised,

"Is that why you targeted Nassana Dantius? Because she was ruthless and would have killed many people in the future?" Thane nodded,

"And many others before her." Thane turned to John fully,

"Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that. I will work for you Shepard. No charge." Thane and Shepard shook hands and Ruby immediantly brightened up and smiled,

"Awesome! We got a new team member!" Blake simply smirked at Ruby's childish personality, then Blake blinked when she realized she was staring and looked back at Thane and John. They made their way out to the bridge again and John called Seryna. The Asari made her way to their location and when she arrived, the group got in the skycar. However, the skycar was small, so Ruby had to sit in Blake's lap, making both girls feel slightly uncomfortable. John noticed and smirked as they made their way back to the docking station.

 **Normandy, Briefing/Comms room...**

Ruby, Blake, Yang, John, and Jacob greeted Thane as he walked into the room. Jacob spoke first, with slight apprehension in his voice,

"I've heard impressive stories, Krios. Sounds like you'll be an asset to the team. That is, if you're comfortable having an assassin watch your back"

"I've accepted a contract. My arm is Shepard's."

"Uh-huh. Don't know about you, but I'm loyal to more than my next paycheck." Ruby spoke up this time,

"Weeelllll, actually Jacob. Thane is doing this 'job' for free, so there's no paycheck for him." John turned to Jacob,

"What's your concern Jacob?" Jacob faced Shepard as he spoke but turned back to Thane,

"I don't like mercenaries. An assassin is just a precise mercenary." Thane faces Jacob directly,

"An assassin is a weapon. A weapon doesn't choose to kill. The one who wields it does. Where shall I put my things? I'd prefer someplace dry, if anything is available." The layout of the Normandy vanishes and is replaced by EDI's avatar,

 _"The area near the Life Support plant on the crew deck tends to be slightly more arid than the rest of the ship."_

"Ah, an AI? My thanks." Thane bows and leaves the room,

 _"He seems quite civil."_ John turns to face Jacob,

"We need all the help we can get. He's not what I expected in an assassin. He may surprise you." Ruby interrupted,

"In a good way. Not surprise in a bad way." Jacob scoffed slightly,

"Yeah, and he may not." Jacob then left the room as well, leaving Yang, Blake, Ruby, and John. John turned to Blake,

"So what's your story? We never had a quiet moment to talk before going out on our recruitment trip." Blake shrugged and started her side of the tale of team RWBY and even her life before Beacon. John was surprised that she was once a member of what eventually became a terrorist organization. However, he was impressed by her beliefs and convictions. She eventually finished and John nodded,

"I must say, I'm very impressed with all you've accomplished and your conviction. It'll be an honor to have you on board the Normandy." John held his hand out and Blake smiled before shaking it,

"Thank you Commander." John smiled,

"Please, just John. Only people outside of my fire squads call me Commander or just Shepard." Blake nodded and she and Ruby left the room, Ruby excitedly chatting away with her. Yang walked up to John and they watched the door close behind the duo. Yang smirked and looked at John,

"They're totally into each other." John chuckled,

"Obviously. They just don't see it yet." John and Yang walked out of the Briefing/Comms room. Both of them laughing quietly while EDI's avatar disappeared.

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter 9. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Again, sorry it took a bit longer than before to get this chapter out. The next chapter will be the Recruit Samara mission, so look forward to that**

 **Now for one of my future stories, another crossover, I'm taking ideas for a species name. This story will be a Graceling/Fire crossover with Mass Effect, and I need a name for the 'monster' humans as they will be a part of the Galactic community and can't simply be referred to as 'monsters'. Let me know either in a review or in a PM.**

 **For those unaware of the 'monster' humans, they are a race in the book 'Fire' that look like ordinary men and women, except for the fact that the color of their skin, hair, and/or eyes, are capable of being anything in an extraordinary array of colors. For example, Fire, the main character of the book, is a monster woman who's hair is such a variety of red, gold, and orange colors that it looks like fire, hence her name. Monsters also exist in species of wild animals, and every single 'monster' has telepathic capabilities to allow them to lure their prey to them and control them if their minds are weak enough so they can be killed easily. Naturally, the 'monster' humans, the Gracelings, and the normal humans will coexist as humanity does in Mass Effect, with some tension (which is normal no matter what) but over all having peace.**

 **Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and I'll see you all in the next chapter,**

 **Darkus** **_** **Cyril**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10  
**

 **Hey readers, I'm back with the next chapter of the story. Sorry it took so long, I had a scene that I couldn't quite get out properly, even now I think it could definintely be better, plus I needed to review the 'Recruiting Samara' mission and find a way to change it to add Ruby and Weiss to the mix, Also this will be part 1 of the recruitment mission. Now two important things I'm gonna do in particular for this chapter:**

 **1) I've recently got a 'complaint' about the ranking conflict between Ruby and Shepard, Ruby being a General of the Valian army as well as a professional huntress and John being a Spectre of the Council and a Commander in the Alliance. And as a side note of this, the possibility of PTSD because of the war against Cinder's forces for team RWBY, as they were practically in the center of it the entire time.**

 **2) The third 'World of Remnant' video released by Rooster Teeth, which brings about some very important changes.**

 **So to explain the first one, Ruby is indeed a higher ranking due to Commander ranking being equal to Colonel, which is lower than General. However, due to the fact that Ruby was only a General of the Valian army, which in this story, is much different and not as technologically advanced as the Earth Systems Alliance, or the rest of the galaxy, they would be considered a somewhat primitive army compared the rest of the galaxy, despite their achievements. Add on the fact that team RWBY has no space training, and they are still new to the galaxy as a whole, the ranking of Remnant would be moot beyond its atmosphere since they would be considered trainees for Space combat(they'll get their first semi-space combat experience on the Collectors Ship in the future).**

 **Now as for the possible PTSD, everyone overcomes stress in different ways. Some people work, some prefer solitude, and others find a hobby to distract themselves from the memories. Now, Blake would be the least likely to suffer from it, as she has her life in the White Fang both before and after their turn to violence, so she is used to being a part of an armed force, and having a difficult life due to being a Faunus, but she never really took part in any major fights, only heists and stealth-oriented missions so it's really hard to tell. Yang is simpler, as a thrill seeker, and a woman protecting her younger sister, she would be least likely to suffer from it, especially since Ruby is perfectly fine, minus her missing eye. Weiss, she would be least likely to suffer from PTSD as she has seen much of the 'war' from her childhood, just because she's related to a major target of the White Fang. Now Ruby, due to her innocence, she would be the first, or possibly only to suffer from PTSD, however, she would probably channel the frustrations, fear, and such into her obsession over weapons, her love of sweets(which is actually proven to calm someone who is angry or scared down[or so I heard from a science channel, can't remember which one, it was a while back when I heard it]) and her childish antics in order to release the built up stress.**

 **Now for the second, I will not spoil the video but I will point out one thing that was mentioned, Dust loses its power once it leaves the atmosphere of Remnant. Luckily the two episodes, chapters 6 and 7 of RWBY have given me an idea on how to explain Dust working outside of Remnant. So if you have not seen RWBY vol. 3 chapters 6 & 7, then you will not understand what will be said in the chapter when it is explained.**

 **Now, onto the story(and this will probably be the longest Chapter of the story because of the explanations going to occur and then the recruitment of Samara).**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Ruby was standing in Mordin's lab, as the Salarian studied the dust crystals provided by Weiss. He had tried charging his just awakened aura into the Dust crystal when Ruby went wide-eyed and snatched the crystal from his hand, confusing him. He looked at the crimsonette in confusion,

"Might I ask why you took the crystal?" Ruby seemed to sweat slightly and shook her head,

"I was just thinking maybe you should get used to your aura before trying to activate a Dust crystal." Ruby smiled as brightly as she could, despite her somewhat obvious nervousness. Mordin noted this but nodded, as he could tell she was being honest about him needing to learn to control his aura properly.

'Still, most curious. She seemed to grow nervous when I attempted to activate the Frost Dust crystal, why? Dangerous? That was the reason for her presence, fear for my failure? No no no, she knows Failure is just as important as success, so what is it?' Mordin watched as the woman leave the lab.

Ruby ran to Weiss's room and closed the door,

"Weiss, I forgot something important when Mordin asked for a bit of Dust!" Weiss turned and set her Myrtenaster, which she had been polishing, down,

"What happened?"

"Weiss, do I really need to tell you? We're not on Remnant, so Dust won't work, aside from for us because of the you-know-what." Weiss went wide-eyed and slapped her forehead,

"Dust damn it, how could I forget that?! I'm just so used to using Dust as well as... 'that'... that I completely forgot about the properties of Dust after coming to this place."

"We need to get Yang and Blake and warn them not to let anyone else try to use any Dust."

"You go let Yang know, and I'll tell Blake. Remember Ruby, this information is- "

"Classified, I know. We can't let the info on us get out, who knows what will happen if it does." Weiss nodded and the RW of the team RWBY left the room, not noticing Weiss's scroll lying open on the bed.

 **With Ruby...**

Ruby rushes up to the Yeoman, Kelly Chambers, who just walked from the dining area. Kelly was a cheerful gingerhaired woman who was almost as peppy as Ruby. Ruby looked around,

"Excuse me, Kelly. Do you know where Yang is?" Kelly turned to face Ruby and smiled,

"She just went down to the shuttle bay, I believe she said she was practicing her martial arts skills."

"Thanks!" Ruby was a blur as she ran into the elevator and began hitting the button over and over and over again. Kelly raised an eyebrow as she saw that Ruby was obviously worried about something, Weiss walked by from her room and into the side room, where her teammate, Blake, if she recalled, was staying. The elevator door closed as Kelly frowned slightly, seeing a stern expression on Weiss' face. Obviously Weiss and Ruby were on some sort of mission, so to speak, and it involved their teammates.

 **Blake's room...**

Weiss entered the room and locked the door,

"Blake, we've got a slight issue." Blake looked up from her Scroll, the mobile book displayed on the screen,

"What is it?" Weiss held up the Dust crystal,

"Our Dust." Blake raised an eyebrow for a moment, before her eyes widened very slightly,

"Oh Monty above. Dust doesn't work outside of Remnant's atmosphere. Except for when we use it. I completely forgot with the war and then getting transported to Illium via Ruby's Semblance." Weiss nodded,

"Ruby almost blew that cover out of the water. She's going to find Yang to let her know right now." Blake nodded, as she looked at her hand, before her eyes released a flame-like aura which receded a moment after,

"To think it's been over 3 years since we obtained these abilities." Weiss crossed her arms and nodded, as she began releasing an aura of ice, which also recended after a moment,

"Yes. I never imagined the Maidens were real, not until we gained these abilities. Now we're the newest generation of Maidens. We need to be careful." Blake nodded as the two sat down and began talking.

 **With Yang...**

Yang and John were sparring. Yang smirked as she ducked a punch and threw her fist at John's exposed side. However, the man smirked and twisted, avoiding the punch before he kicked at Yang, who simply caught the kick. Yang tossed John, who landed and rolled back onto his feet. John smirked before a red blur crashed into Yang and she and Ruby vanished in a blur of rose petals before appearing on the otherside of the shuttle bay. Yang shook her head and looked at Ruby,

"Ruby, what the hell?"

"Yang! Have you tried showing anyone how to use Dust?" Yang blinked and shook her head,

"No, why?"

"Good, just don't do it, we're not on Remnant after all." Yang looked confused before her eyes went wide and she slapped her forehead just like Weiss did earlier,

"Agh, how could I forget! Dust d- mphh!"

"Yang, we don't need shouting, remember, the fact that we can use 'that' to use Dust outside Remnant's atmosphere, well, that's classified by the headmasters and the other Hunters of our little group." Yang nodded and sighed behind Ruby's hand, which was taken off after Yang nodded,

"Yea, I know."

"Not even John can know, Yang." Yang blinked and looked down slightly before nodding,

"Yea, I know. But I do want to tell him, he should know about me, about us and the abilities we have. He might not have noticed, but I used my Summer Maiden abilities when we went to recruit Okeer." Ruby went wide-eyed,

"What did you do?" Yang shrugged,

"I enhanced my natural semblance and made an unstable ball of fire within a big mech, and launched a burst of fire at it, making it explode." Ruby smirked,

"I'll bet you turned away to try and look like a bad ass." Yang laughed,

"I didn't 'try' I was a bad ass, after all, the cool people don't look at explosions..."

'Oh no, not again.' Yang smirked,

"...they blow shit up and just walk away." Yang finished in a sing-song voice **(A/N: that's a reference to the youtube channel: SkyVsGaming, one of the GTA V mod showcases he did. I thought it sounded like something Yang would say XD)** Ruby groaned,

"Dust dammit Yang." Yang just laughed,

"Look, just remember, not to let anyone use any Dust, got it?" Yang nodded,

"Don't worry sis, I know. It's beyond classified, Uncle Qrow told us right after Ozpin and Ironwood, remember?" Ruby nods and she runs back to the elevator,

"Oh, and meet up in Blake's room when your done here, we've got a few other things to discuss as well, got it?" Yang nods,

"Yea, I got it sis."

"Good, don't be late!" Yang walked back over to John after giving Ruby a thumbs up. John looked at Yang with a raised eyebrow,

"What was that about?" Yang smiled a bit nervously,

"Ah, you don't need to worry about it, just letting me know about a meeting for team RWBY, covering some personal stuff, nothing to be worried about." John raised an eyebrow before sighing and nodding,

"Very well, just remember, if there's anything you need to get off your chest, just let me know, okay?" Yang smirked,

"Why John, you're quite forward, aren't you?" John blinked before blushing a bit as Yang crossed her arms under her bust and he pushed Yang's shoulder,

"Shut up Yang, I'm being serious." Yang let the smirk fall and sigh,

"Yea, I know, but there are things I CAN'T talk about, highly classified information that my team knows. We can only share this information if we have no other choice." John crossed his arms and nodded,

"I see. Well don't worry, I won't push for anything you're not allowed to tell me, and I won't let anyone else push you for information either, if more for their safety than the information's safety." John smirked as he finished what he was saying, making Yang laugh and nod. The two got back into their sparring stances and started another round.

 **An hour later, Blake's room...**

Yang walked into the room to see Ruby, Blake, and Weiss sitting next to the window looking at the stars.

"Hey guys, you aren't all 'star-struck' are ya?" Yang snickered as the trio groaned and Weiss facepalmed. Yang closed the door behind her and locked it before looking around at her teammates,

"So, we're gonna discuss 'that', am I right?" Ruby and Weiss nodded. Weiss walked forward and put her hands on her hips and had her usual Ice Queen scowl on her face,

"Ruby told us what you told her, you're lucky you only enhanced the fire aspect of your semblance and not used 'it' outright, otherwise there would be a LOT of questions that we would be forced to answer." Yang rubbed the back of her head and had a sheepish expression,

"Yea, I know Weiss. But really, that Jedore woman was pissing me off, thinking that... YMIR mech was it? Yea, that thing was strong enough to beat me. It wasn't even half the size of the Paladin we destroyed in our first year at Beacon. Plus she was a bitch who grated on our ears the entire time until John shut her up." Weiss crossed her arms,

"It doesn't matter, you need to be careful, the existance of the Maidens was kept a secret for centuries, and for good reasons as well, we need to continue that because if word got out of our abilities, we'd be targeted for the rest of our lives, whether by those who want to use us, by those who would consider us goddesses or some such nonsense, or by those like Cinder." Everyone grimaced at the mention of the brilliant yet unstable woman. Yang sighed and nodded before she looked down, Blake in particular was most anxious, because when she took the power Cinder had stolen she had recieved a part of Cinder's aura, luckily she kept it in check and eventually managed to control it, gaining a portion of Cinder's own Semblance, Fire Dust manipulation.

"I know we're not supposed to reveal it, but honestly, I think we should let John know at the very least." Weiss was wide-eyed,

"Why would we do that?"

"Weiss, he's the one guiding us throughout the galaxy, helping us find our home! And-"

"You're falling in love with him. So you wouldn't be able to stand holding such a secret from him." Everyone looked at Blake and back at Yang, who simply nodded. Weiss sighed and looked to Ruby,

"Ruby, you're the highest ranking individual here. Even above Shepard, so it's your choice if we tell him or not." Ruby looked down, her one eye blank as she considered her options. After a few tense moments of silence, Ruby spoke,

"No. At least, not yet, we'll only tell if we have no other choice, so we aren't going to say anything right now. Maybe in the future we can share with him and whomever he trusts the most, but right now, we can't." Yang sighed and nodded,

"But still, we need to find a way to explain why Dust doesn't work for anyone else outside of Remnant's atmosphere. Any ideas?" Everyone began to think for a convincing explanation when they were interrupted,

 _"Excuse me. Mordin would like to discuss something if you're not busy."_ Everyone looked up at the speaker.

 **Weiss' room, a few minutes after Weiss and Ruby left...**

Mordin walked into Weiss' room as he looked around for the white haired woman. He saw she wasn't there and was about to leave when he noticed Weiss' Scroll laying on her bed, open and active. He was curious about the device. Such a small and thin device and yet capable of expanding far beyond it's expected size parameter. He noticed that on the screen, was a list. He walked up to the list and glanced casually. He was about to leave when he noticed something that caught his eye. It was apparently a video on Dust. His curiosity got the better of him and he tapped the icon, making the screen brighten for a moment before it dimmed and the video began playing. As the video progressed, Mordin began taking notes on his Omnitool. However, near the midway point of the video, Mordin made an unexpected discovery. Remnant had not successfully made an attempt at space travel because of one simple fact. Dust loses it's unique powers as it leaves the atmosphere of Remnant.

Mordin stared at the video in surprise when he suddenly remembered Ruby's behavior before. It seemed she remembered that, but why hide it from the crew? It made no sense because they couldn't...

'Wait, Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Yang can all activate Dust, yet we cannot? Is it because they are natives of Remnant? No, otherwise the video would have stated so, this Dust must be connected to the planet in some way. So why can these four activate it?' Mordin closed the video and placed the Scroll exactly as it was before leaving,

'They must have had a good reason for the deception, or possbly they forgot? They were in a war before their unusual arrival, so, highly likely reason for forgeting this detail. However, something doesn't add up...' Mordin left the room, almost entirely unseen and he saw Ruby leavinging into the elevator and heading to Blake's room. Mordin raised a brow before thinking and walking to the dining area to get himself some food before going back to his lab.

 **At the same time Yang arrived at Blake's room, in Mordin's lab...**

Mordin was sitting in his lab looking over the recordings of the samples of Dust he had and was surprised to see that the energy of the crystals matched Ruby and Weiss.

'Hmm, most curious, seems that Ruby and Weiss are the only ones to truly use Dust, or perhaps Blake and Yang do too. Unknown, but curious.' Mordin looked up,

"EDI, please contact Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss. Have something to discuss."

 _"Of course Prof. Solus, I will contact them immediately."_ Mordin nodded, his black eyes blinking a few times,

"Thank you."

 **A few moments later in Mordin's lab...**

Mordin sat at his computer and typed as he usually does when the door opened and Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss entered the room. THeir expressions were careful and slightly cautious. Weiss crossed her arms,

"What do you need Mordin?" Mordin looked up and finished his typing before turning the computer off and facing the group,

"Was simply curious. When I went to Ms. Schnee's room-"

"Don't call me that, just call me Weiss." Mordin blinked and nodded,

"As I was saying, when I entered her room, I was looking to question why Ruby took away a sample of Dust she originally wanted me to try and activate, when I saw Weiss'... Scroll was it? It was lying open and on a video application. I grew curious and clicked the file labeled 'Dust'." By this point Weiss was wide-eyed, and Ruby had her face in her palms,

"Dust damn it."

"I'm simply curious as to why Dust works for you and no one else off of your planet." Blake shifted, drawing Mordin's attention,

"Mordin, listen, you're crossing into highly classified territory. We can only divulge this information if we have no choice, alright? It's not something to be shared lightly and those who know must be sworn to secrecy, to never share the information with anyone, without the permission of those the secret is about or those who are the guardians of the secret." Mordin adopted a thinking posture,

"What were to happen should this secret be let out?" Yang took over, an expression of seriousness on her face,

"Let's put it this way, before this was a secret, everyone knew and many people attacked the predecesors for control of this secret. Lots of people died and many of those who succeeded went down in legends as terrible villians." Mordin looked surprised, and Yang shrugged,

"Yea, this secret is practically ancient. It was made a secret and allowed to fade into legend, one of many many fairy tales. However, this one, is one of only three that is true, the rest are just fairy tales."

"And what are the three that are true?" Yang shook her head and crossed her arms,

"Nope, until Rubes here gives the word, this secret, will remain a secret. She is technically our commanding officer. She's even higher ranked than John." Mordin blinked and nodded,

"I see. Very well. You may go." Blake narrowed her eyes,

"Before we do, you must swear not to mention the video to anyone, not John nor your council members." Mordin nodded,

"Of course. As a former STG, I know the value of having important secrets. This will not be spoken of to another without Ms. Rose's permission." Ruby simply nodded. Mordin watched as the four women left the room quickly.

 _"Excuse me, Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee, please meet Commander Shepard in the airlock. He is going ashore to seek out Samara."_ Ruby and Weiss looked up and then at each other before nodding,

"Got it."

"We'll be there in a few moments, we need to prepare for the mission first."

 _"I will let Commander Shepard know."_ Ruby and Weiss thanked EDI and left the room.

 **Security point, Illium, a few minutes later...**

John, Weiss, and Ruby looked around a small market place before making their way to the security 'room' on the right side. John, Weiss, and Ruby walked up to the Asari officer who turned to face them,

"Can help you with something?" John stepped ahead of his two companions,

"I'm looking for an Asari warrior by the name of Samara." The Asari blinked and looked surprised,

"Wait. Why? Do you have a problem or... Did she kill someone already?" Weiss and Ruby blinked and looked at each other before looking back at the Asari. John held his hands out in a pacifying manner,

"Relax, I just need to speak with her." The Asari nodded,

"Good. Samara is the first justicar I've seen on Illium. If I'm lucky, things will stay peaceful. She went to the commercial spaceport a few hours ago. If you want to get there, the pedestal on the balcony will summon a cab." The Asari looked a bit nervous and leaned forward slightly and spoke a bit softer,

"Just be polite when you meet her. Justicars embody our highest laws, and they usually stay in asari space. As a result, she's not used to dealing with aliens. If she killed an Asari, we'd understand why. A human? Big political shit storm just waiting to happen. I mean, your kind can't even figure out your own religion, how could you possibly understand how a Justicar's code works?" Ruby nodded,

"Makes sense to me. So let's try and be polite, alright guys?" Weiss laughed a bit,

"Of course you dunce. As a member of the Schnee family, I have been taught how to speak with even the most noble of dignitaries, I'm sure it is similar for the Asari race as well." The Asari officer nodded and John nodded,

"Thanks for the information." She nodded and got back to work,

"Good luck." John nodded and left with Ruby and Weiss not too far behind. After catching a skycar to the commercial spaceport, the group saw a Volus being escourted by two Turians. An Asari detective walked up and began questioning the Volus. From what the trio could hear, a murder had taken place very recently. They entered the station and walked over to the Asari who was talking to the Volus from before. John stepped forward as the detective looked the trio over,

"Nice weapons, try not to use them in my district. What can I do for you?" John sat in the chair opposite the detective,

"I'm looking for an Asari warrior named Samara."

"If you've got a score to settle with Samara, take it elsewhere. I've got more than enough trouble here already." John shook her head and Weiss crossed her arms,

"I need to recruit her for a mission, then we'll be on our way." The detective seemed skeptical but shrugged slightly,

"Justicars usually work alone, but they are drawn to impossible causes." Ruby snorted,

"Yea, we've got that covered alright."

"Well, if you're getting her out of my district, I'll get you to her ASAP. She's at the crime scene, just down the back alley along the side of the building." John raised an eyebrow,

"You just let her into the crime scene?"

"She's a Justicar, as a cop, I'm authorized to work with her as best as I can. Plus she's been doing this longer than both of our life spans combined. She knows how to take care of herself." Weiss raised an eyebrow,

"Why so eager to see her leave?"

"My boss wants me to detain her. They're worried she'll cause some kind of cross-species incident. Her Justicar Code won't let her be taken into custody. If I try, she'll have to kill me. I've no interest in dying, so if you lure her away with some big nole cause before I have to carry out my orders, I'll be thrilled to help you." Ruby raised her visible eyebrow,

"Your superiors are sending you to certain death for no good reason. You should be in the right to disobey this order." John snorted and,

"If Garrus was here, he'd probably make a smart ass remark to what you said Ruby." Ruby snickered and even Weiss smirked,

"Yea, probably, it's about, what, two time a day?"

"Most of the time I'm not being stupid. I can't say the same for the detective's superiors."

"The name's Anaya, and I'm a cop, I know my duty. I've been ordered to detain her and I will, unless I can get her to leave my district first." John nodded and stood up,

"I have to go." Anaya nodded,

"Good luck." John, Ruby and Weiss nodded and headed to the crime scene. The asari let the trio in and they made their way back. Ruby and John pulled their weapons out, Crescent Rose in it's sniper rifle form, and Weiss kept her hand on Myrtenaster's hilt. As the trio made their way through the alleyway, they came across a few Blue Suns members and three LOKI mechs. Weiss readied herself, hand on her weapon and nodded to Ruby, who returned it and placed a hand on John's shoulder and nodded towards some cover. John was curious so he allowed Ruby to lead him to some cover. The two watched Weiss walk out in plain view of the mercs. The mercs spotted her and aimed at her, but before they could do anything, Weiss drew her Myrtenaster and readied herself in the blink of an eye before she shot forward like a bullet and ran he sword through the first LOKI mech, making ice explode from it, piercing the other two and bringing down the barrier of the Eclipse Vanguard some.

Weiss twirled elegantly around a biotic blast as she seemed to dance around the asari. John was in awe as was the Asari, shocked that a human was able to move with such unnatural grace. The Eclipse merc became afraid when every shot missed and her biotic blasts were rendered useless because of Weiss' agility and swiftness. Suddenly Weiss bent in a way that looked uncomfortable to dodge a biotic blast and she swept her blade at the asari's legs, cutting a few tendons before she twisted and pierced the Asari's skull and froze her entirely, her sword glowing a light blue color, showing she was using Frost Dust. The trio made their way to the end and saw a door surrounded by the same police 'tape'. They entered and an Eclipse merc came flying. Before she could hit the wall, Weiss put up a few small glyphs that grabbed the Asari by the arms, legs, and around the mid-torso area.

The trio looked at where the merc came flying from and saw Samara herself, standing in front of another Eclipse merc.

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter 10-1 I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and again, sorry for the late update. I plan to update more often, but that'll depend on how busy I am with work and my other stories, since I do need to continue them. Also, check my profile for my challenges and my latest poll concerning a future story.**

 **Anyways, I'll see you in the next chapter, and again, I hope you enjoyed this one,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with chapter 11, or if I go with the previous chapter's thing, chapter 10-2, this will be the completion of the Recruiting Samara mission. Now, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I was busy with work and my latest story, a Fairy Tail/Undertale crossover called Celestial Tale. If you like either of those then you should check out the story, see if you like what I'm doing with it. Anyways, time to star the chapter, so I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'  
 **_**

Ruby, Weiss, and John stood and watched as the Justicar, Samara interrigated the last living Eclipse Merc. She seemed to be searching for someone, which confused the trio. The mercenary shouted at Samara,

"You can kill me, but one of us will take you down Justicar." Samara simply hekd her arm up, grabbing the other Asari in a biotic field before throwing the eclipse merc through the window of the open office and near John, Weiss, and Ruby. Samara, glowing with pure biotic energy, and she glided towards the downed Asari befor elanding and placing a heeled shoe on her neck,

"What was the name of the ship she left on?" The Asari gripped her ankle and began struggling,

"G-go to hell." Samara simply stared for a moment,

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess." Samara applied pressure and suddenly jerked her foot, breaking the Asari's neck, killing her instantly and painlessly. Samra looked up and over slowly, as John, Weiss, and Ruby walked forward,

"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code. My quarrel is with these Eclipse sisters, but I see three strange people before me... Are we friend? Or Foe?" Ruby narrowed her eye,

"She was injured and defenseless, yet you seem perfectly fine with killing her." Samara turned to Ruby, gazing into the lone silver eye,

"If my cause is important enough, I will kill a wounded person, are you different?"

"Of course, I will kill, but only with good reason, never for the sake of killing."

"I answer to a code that is clearly defined. If my actions are true to that code, I am just. If they are not, I am unjust. I do not pretend it is a simple matter, or that it is right in everyone's eyes. However, I do sleep well at night, and that is more than most can say." Ruby closed her eye before opening it,

"Very well, I understand." Samara nodded slightly,

"Now, how may I be of service to you?" John stepped forward after Ruby looked at him,

"I'm going up against suicidal odds, and I need the best, and that's you." Samara looked at John,

"I sense the truth in what you say, and it humbles me. However, I seek and incredibly dangerous fugitive. I cornered her here, but the Eclipse sisters smuggled her off-world. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail goes cold." Suddenly detective Anaya walked into the room,

"I wish you were willing to go with the human, Justicar. I've been ordered to take you into custody if you won't leave." Samara stepped forward,

"You risk a great deal by following your orders, Detective. Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My code obligates me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."

"I won't be able to release you that soon."

"You won't be able to stop me." Weiss huffed,

"Let me guess, your Code, won't allow you to force her to disobey, but after the aformentioned day has passed, you will have to kill them in order to return to your investigation if the do not willingly release you?" Samra looked at the woman in white,

"That is correct." John frowned,

"There must be a way to settle this without anyone of the officers and detectives dying." Samara turned towards John again,

"I see a way. While I am in custody, you find the name of the ship. Do that, and I will join you. Then the Code will be satisfied." John began to think,

"Do you have any leads?" Samara replied without hesitation,

"The Volus merchant, Pitne For, is tied to this. Eclipse Mercs are preparing to kill him." Samara walked passed the trio and to the doorway, followed closely by Anaya,

"Get the truth out of him. He may know a way into the Eclipse base." Anaya looked at Samara awkwardly,

"Well, I've got to get back to my station. And I guess I've got to take you with me." Samara nodded and looked at John,

"Thank you, human."

"My name is Commander John Shepard." Samara nodded,

"Very well Commander Shepard. I await your return." John, Weiss, and Ruby left the area and made their way to the docking area and then made their way to the volus, Pitne For. Pitne turned to them as they approached,

"Hello again, Earth-clan. Did you speak with the detective?" John decided to get straight to the point,

"Why are the mercs after you?" Pitne breathed deeply, as his race usually does,

"I know nothing about any mercenaries, Earth-clan. I am merely an innocent merchant trying to make his way in life." Weiss and Ruby looked at each other before rolling their eyes. Innocent? Doubtful. John stepped forward,

"The Eclipse are out for your blood. I need your help to break into their base. Shouldn't we work together?" Pitne considered it for a moment,

"Yes! You're right, Earth-clan... I'm desperate. I've got angry mercs after me, and now this asari justicar. Let's talk. I smuggled the Eclipe sisters a chemical onto Illium that boosts Biotic powers in combat. It, also, is toxic. I may, um, have forgotten to mention that to the Eclipse. So they are perturbed and want to kill me." Roby scoffed,

"So you swindled them, and your actions just now caught up to you." Pitne looked at Ruby, breathing deeply again,

"True and True. But I haven't survived as a merchant this long without being able to tell when there's a deal in the making... You want something." John took over here,

"The Eclipse recently smuggled someone off-world. I need the name of the ship she left on." Pitne shook his head once,

"I don't know about their people-smuggling operations. They must keep records in their base. I do have a pass card they issued me to bring my goods in. Well, I had to return that one, but I happened to make a copy." Pitne turned as he felt a glare and he froze when he saw Weiss giving him a look as cold as a blizzard on Noveria would be without any protective suits. He handed over the pass card without complaint,

"Take it. But be careful. Each Eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. They are all dangerous." The trio makes their way over to the elevator that Pitne pointed out. It was right behind the detective's building. Weiss crossed her arms,

"It really never occured to them that the mercenaries could be right below their very noses?"

"Literally." Weiss and John look at Ruby, before chuckling softly,

"Come on you two, let's get going." They enter the elevator and scan the pass card and the elevator started going. When they arrived at the level, they pulled their weapons out and got ready. As soon as the doors opened, the group spotted a LOKI mech. John immediately aimed his Sniper Rifle and put a round in the faceplate of the mech. They turned and opened the door next to them as a Eclipse Vanguard used a Biotic Throw to chuck a container of the illegal checmical, known as Red Sand, towards them. However, it only got a few inches before Ruby, in less than a second of the door opening, pulled out her Crescent Rose, unlocked it to Sniper Rifle form, and fired, destroying the container and covering the Asari with the toxic substance.

The group made their way through several rooms, killing off dozens of Mercs. However, the most interesting thing occured in the third room they went through, they discovered an Eclipse Merc by the name of Elnora. The Asari seemed like an innocent woman, claiming to have only pretended to kill someone in order to get her uniform. Seeing how she was acting, the trio had no reason to doubt her, she seemed genuinely terrified of them and of how the group she joined was turning out. She ran after John let her go with a threat. Although Weiss was skeptical, she agreed and let the asari go all the same. In a later room, Ruby found a recording by Elnora. She narrowed her eye and copied the record since she knew Anaya would be interested in it. Soon they reached a room where a seemingly intoxicated Volus was wondering and muttering to himself about being a 'Biotic God'.

He began boasting on how he'll beat the Eclipse leader, but when he turned his back, John simply tapped the volus' back, causing him to fall over. He got up a few seconds later, and began to walk away, muttering about being tired and destroying the universe after a nap. Ruby snorted and tried, unsuccessfully to hide her giggles, as the Volus stumbled away slowly. The group ran down the hall as quietly as they could before opening the door and running in, their weapons at the ready. The Eclipse leader, Wasea, was holding a datapad and a drink in her hands. She finished the drink and set the now empty cup down,

"Everything's gone to hell since we smuggled that filthy creature off-world. First a Justicar shows up, now you." Wasea slowly walks around the desk, tossing the datapad down,

"At least I can take pleasure in turning your head into a pulpy mass!" SHe started glowing with dark matter and she flung a container of Red Sand passed them into the hallway behind them before stomping her way towards them as several other mercs entered the area and began shooting at them. Of course, their Aura, along with John's shields, protected them, as they got into cover and began fighting back. Weiss ran along the wall and decided to show off a bit, she focused and an enormous glyph appeared behind her, making the mercs stop and stare as a much larger form stepped out of the glyph. Ruby simply smirked as the Knight stepped forth. She looked over at John, who was wide eyed,

"This is something only a member of the Schnee family can do. I might have forgotten to mention this little detail, but the Schnee family has an odd... 'mutation' for their Semblance, they all have the same ability, Glyphs and the unique Summon Glyphs, which summons their greatest enemies of their pasts, the ones who forced them to grow and adapt, as their greatest allies. This is the Knight, Weiss' first summon, and her most adaptable summon as well." John could only stare in awe as the Knight stood behind Weiss, it's enormous sword held at the ready. Wasea growls and throws a Biotic Push at the giant but it simply swings the blade and knocks it away. Weiss then snapped her fingers and a giant Alpha Beowolf was summoned from another glyph and the Wolf and Knight both charged and began to slaughter the mercs. Ruby pulled her Crescent Rose and began sniping the mercs that the Wolf and the Knight didn't get and John soon followed as well.

Soon the mercs were all dead and the trio was looking at the datapad. They saw the name and nodded as they grabbed it and made their way back to the detective's office.

 **Anaya's office...**

John, Weiss, and Ruby walked into the station and walked up to Anaya and Samara. John walked up and held out the datapad,

"I've got the name of the ship. Your fugitive left here two days ago on the AML Demeter." Samara looked at John with the smallest of smirks on her face,

"Shepard, you impress me. You fulfilled your part of the bargin, and I will fulfill mine." Samara stood up from her meditative pose and turned to Anaya,

"I am ready to leave immediately, if that will satisfy your superiors, Detective?" Anaya nodded,

"You're free to go, Justicar. It has been an honor to have you in my station. And it's nice you didn't kill me, too."

"The Normandy is docked near the main trading floor. I'll see you aboard." Samara shook her head once,

"I must be sworn into your service, so that I am never forced to choose between your orders and the Code." Suddenly Samara's eyes glowed and she kneeled, with her face touching her knee. Anaya stood up and watched in concealed facination,

"By the Code, I will serve you, Shepard. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code." Samara was suddenly engulfed in dark matter for a moment before it flickered away. She sttod up as Anaya looked at John,

"I never thought I'd see a justicar swear an oath like that." Ruby, John, and Weiss raised an eyebrow at the detectives words before they tured back to Samara,

"If you make me do anything extremely dishonorable, I may need to kill you when I am released from my oath." John thanked Samara, as he could see the act was extraordinarily important. Samara nodded and replied kindly, stating that the Justicar life was a solitary life, and she looked forward to working with such honorable heros. John then handed the datapad on Pitne's illegal shipments to Anaya who gave him a small discretionary bounty fund, and as they were about to leave, Ruby tossed a datapad, onto the table, with a serious expression in her single eye,

"An Eclipse merc killed the volus merchant. Here's proof." Anaya looked over the datapad and nodded,

"Interesting, but it's inadmissable, I'm sorry."

"I vouch for her evidence." Ruby and Anaya looked over to see Samara standing near the door,

"Alright, I accept the judgement of the Justicar. Go on, get out of here." Ruby nodded and left, thanking Samara with a nod, which was returned. as the group made their way to the Skycar. They soon arrived back at the trading floor and ran into Miranda and Mordin, who were looking for supplies. They all left as Mordin and Miranda had everything they needed already, so they could continue recruiting.

 **Normandy, comms and debriefing room...**

Jacob walked up to Samara as she entered the room and shook her hand,

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, Samara. We've studied your profile extensively. With your skills, I think you'll be an excellent addition to our team." Samara bowed her head slightly,

"Thank you. From an organization such as yours, that is high praise indeed."

John and Ruby smirked,

"We've seen Samara's biotic powers at work. They're substantial." Jacob nodded,

"We still don't know what to find when we hit the Collectors."

"I will be prepared for whatever we encounter." Jacob crossed his arms,

"Where should we put you?" Samara looked at him,

"A room that looks out on the great empty void would be most comforting." Ruby blinked and smiled brightly,

"Ooh, you could share with Blake, I'm sure she won't mind, especially since you two like the quiet." Samara nodded,

"If it will not be an inconvenience, then I accept." Ruby smiled and suddenly appeared next to Samara, making her look at the red cloaked woman in surprise,

"Come on, besides, we need to awaken your Aura as well." Samara looked confused as Ruby led her out of the room,

"Aura?" Ruby smiled as Yang walked into the small hall between the Armory, Mordins lab, and the Comms/Debriefing room,

"Hey sis, is this that new chick, Samara, that you, John, and Weiss were going to recruit?"

"Yep, Yang, this is Samara. Samara, this is my older sister, Yang Xiao Long." Samara looked between the two,

"You two share no similar features, are you adopted siblings?" The two shake their heads,

"No, different mothers. I took my mother's last name when she died on a mission, and Yang took dad's last name. So we're half sisters." Yang and Ruby led Samara to Blake's room where they explained the situation. Of course, Blake was uncertain at first, but upon seeing the relaxed, almost cold, stature of Samara, she accepted, since Samara wouldn't cut into her reading time. She only allowed one person to do that, her leader, and she didn't know why it was that way, but she payed it no mind as Ruby didn't interrupt her reading unless she wanted to read as well, which she enjoyed doing with the young woman. Blake blinked as she felt her cheeks heat up and she buried her head in the book again. Why did she always get flustered over her team leader? Yang looked at Blake and smirked before looking at Ruby who waved to the two quiet women as she left the room and Yang looked at Blake, making eye contact as she winked knowingly at Blake, making the Faunus blush even more.

Yang and Ruby went to the quarters and began to change and get ready for dinner. Weiss went to the Comms/Debriefing room after everyone left to try and get a hold of Kaiden. Meanwhile, up in John's cabin, he was looking at the final Dossier given to him by the Illusive Man, it was one that made him smirk, Tali'Zorah Vas Neema, his old Quarian friend. Apparently she was on a planet called Haestrom in the Dholen system of the Far Rim. John looked up as EDI notified him of Grunt seeming to be extremely agitated and restless. He got up to go see what the problem was. Meanwhile, everyone was busy working, talking, or relaxing, not knowing of the dangers that would come into play soon.

 **A desert on Tuchanka...**

A strange pale white woman, wearing a dark dress, and her snow white hair in a unique bun with ornaments hanging from her hair, walked in one of the many the deserts of Tuchanka. As any creature came near, an explosion in the sand engulfed them before they were gone, leaving no evidence aside from the sand in the air, drifting to the ground,

"My, how interesting. A whole new world, and it appears Ozpin is not here. What a shame, I would have enjoyed watching his hopes for this planet fall just like they have for Beacon and Vale. Still, some how that Silver eyed Maiden sent me here through some method I have not seen since the time before Huntresses and Huntsmen, so it must have been for a reason... Are you prepared, my pet? Go. Spread fear and chaos, so that your children may spread throughout this new world." The woman turned to a great shadow behind her and a loud roar was heard before the sound of something enormous moving through the ground was heard, moving away from the woman, towards one of the greater settlements of Tuchanka.  
 **_**

 **There's chapter 11, I introduced the next RWBY character of the few I will add to the series, the rest will come in MUCH later, near the end of this story. So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and again, sorry it took so long. I will do my best to update these much more frequently, but with spring break coming up, I will be extra busy with work, so I may put them off for a week before starting the next chapter of any of my stories. Well, anyways, I will see you readers in the next chapter, so see ya later,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Hey readers, Darkus_Cyril here with chapter 12. Now, I'm sorry it took so long to get this out, with Spring Break and Summer vacation coming up, I'll be pretty busy with work so please try to be patient with me. Now, for those of you who ARE curious, that was Salem at the end of the previous chapter and the creature was a new form of Grimm that I had planned to introduce since the first showing of the Grimm on Tuchanka. This chapter will essentially be Grunt's and Mordin's loyalty mission this time. Ruby, Jacob, Weiss, and Miranda will go with Mordin on his loyalty mission while Yang, John, Thane and Blake will go with Grunt for his loyalty mission. Though, they won't be fighting a Thresher, but rather the probably-still-mysterious Grimm mentioned at the end of Ch. 11.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY(R.I.P. Monty Oum, you'll live forever in the hearts and minds of your fans) nor do I own Mass Effect.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

John looked at Grunt as he walked back and forth, seemingly frustrated about something John had his pistol ready just incase Grunt got violent,

"Chambers said you're tearing up the place. Something wrong?" Grunt turned to look at John before turning to face him fully,

"Something... is wrong, Shepard. I feel wrong. Tense. I just want to kill something. With my hands. More so than usual, like it's not my choice. Like I just want to, I don't know..." As Grunt spoke he walked over to the window overlooking the shuttle bay and suddenly he headbutt the glass, causing John to slide his hand towards the pistol as the glass shattered. Grunt suddenly turned around and walked towards John, holding a hand up and pointing with his thumb at the glass, though John noticed that Grunt's head crest was a bit shinier than usual, almost the same color tone as the metal of the room. John shook the thought away as Grunt spoke,

"See? Why do that? What's wrong?" John raised an eyebrow, it seems he was feeling intense rage towards nothing in particular but was holding it in, mostly. John stood straight before she repsonded,

"Okeer didn't imprint anything to help you figure this out?" Grunt just blinked as he replied,

"I see pictures of old battles, voices of warlords. But this is... a blood haze in my head. I want control. When we're moving, fighting, I focus. But here, my blood screams, my plates itch, and even you are just noise." Grunt walked over to his pod as he said this and turned towards John and closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to control himself from lashing out. Seeing this made John almost wish he brought Yang with him. Grunt opened his eyes, "I'm tank-born. What is this?"

John looked up,

"EDI, anything in your files about krogan diseases that could cause this?"

 _"Cerberus has a number of autopsies on file, but nothing on a living krogan of this age and situation. Krogan are reluctant to share medical records."_ Grunt huffed,

"My people were defeated by doctors and labs. They will never let stuff like that leave the homeworld, Tuchanka." John nodded and turned to leave,

"Joker can get us to the krogan homeworld. I need everyone at their best." Grunt nodded,

"Thank you, Shepard. I don't like this. Fury is my choice, not a sickness." John nodded and opened the door. He blinked in surprise as Yang stood there,

"Things go alright Johnny boy?" John blinked at the nickname before he smirked,

"Ok, first off Yang: 'Johnny boy'? Really? Couldn't think of something original. And second, Grunt may be sick, he said something about feeling aggravated, his plates were itching, and his battle instincts are going wild." Yang frowned and crossed her arms,

"Huh, that's odd, his Aura should be repelling any disease, but then again, maybe it's something to do with his biology. I'll need to look up stuff on the krogan before I can figure anything out." John nodded as the two left the engine level and went up to the CIC where John went to the Galaxy map to imput the coordinates for Tuchanka. Yang simply stood back and watched. She looked to the right and saw Yeoman Kelly Chambers. Kelly waved at her with a cheery smile, which Yang returned. Yang walked over to Kelly and the two began to talk. Though, Yang got the sense that Kelly was subtly flirting with her, so she returned the favor and began to return the subtle passes with just as much subtly. Of course, it was just a fun game for Yang and Kelly, who could tell Yang flirted playfully as a joke. Kelly didn't mind in the least, that was why she did it as well.

Yang felt the slight shudder of the ship as the Normandy went through the Mass Relay. She figured it would be about a day, maybe a few, before they reached the planet of the Krogan race. She was certainly interested to see how the Krogan partied, so to speak. Yang's scroll beeped and she pulled it out to see a message from Ruby that read:

 _ **Sis, come to Weiss' room. Aura lessons will be discussed for the future.**_

Yang blinked before apologizing to Kelly,

"Sorry Kel. Gotta head to meet up with my team, we got big plans for the Normandy fire squad, to help the mission go along easier." Kelly nodded and waved goodbye to Yang. When the elevator doors closed, Kelly's face adopted a thoughtful expression,

'Hmm, there's something she's hiding. I can see it in her eyes that she is holding back, but what is it?'

 **Weiss' Room...**

Yang knocked on the door three times, and the door opened, showing Weiss standing there with Ruby and Blake sitting on Weiss's bed, looking at a datapad. Weiss motioned Yang in and locked the door behind them. Weiss looked at the three and cleared her throat, getting their attention,

"Alright, we have to teach everyone on the fire squad how to use their aura properly, otherwise, it'll take weeks for their semblances to properly develop." Blake nodded as she spoke up,

"You're right, and if they don't learn to control their Aura, their semblances may not work properly for them." Weiss nodded along with Yang, who was leaning against the wall across from the door with her arms crossed under her bust, and Ruby who was still sitting next to Blake, occasionally glancing at the datapad and making slight adjustments to the content on it. Weiss walked over and Blake handed the datapad to Weiss to see what was put down and smirked before she nodded,

"This plan will work, as usual, Ruby." Ruby smiled cheerfully and nodded,

"Duh, it works the best because it covers the basics for the first few weeks and then we slowly get into the more advanced material once they have proper control over their Aura. We may even be able to get a few of them to use one of the many special aura martial art styles of Remnant, I doubt the guys would be able to use the styles of the Lie family, but maybe Kasumi or Miranda could." Yang nodded and she spoke her part,

"Jack would definitely be best suited for the Xiao Long fighting style. Her strength and that biotic stuff would make her very powerful with my pop's martial arts style." Weiss and Blake looked at Yang in slight confusion while Ruby nodded. Yang looked at Weiss and Blake,

"Hmm? What's up?" Blake spoke up,

"You don't use your father's fighting style?" Yang shook her head,

"Nope. Well, kinda... I mixed it with three other fighting styles in order to make it suit me perfectly, I actually made three psuedostyles that make up the entire Yang Xiao Long style. I can utilize quick disabling strikes to quickly finish off my opponents. I can overwhelm them with pure strength. And for the grand finale, I actually know how to concentrate my aura on my skin, making it harder than stone. Pretty much, I turn into an unstoppable burning juggernaut. I actually used that psuedostyle against that Atlesian Paladin back in our first year of Beacon." Weiss and Blake nodded, as they remembered that fight, how Yang had pretty much tanked through every blow and still managed to fight as if she had taken no damage. The four then began going over the schedule they had, with Weiss preparing a time schedule for the crew so they could get the appropriate amount of training and studying for each day.

 **A few days later, Krogan DMZ...**

The Normandy SR2 exited the Mass Relay within the Aralakh system and they made their way to Tuchanka. Yang and Ruby had jogged up to the front to see the exit from the Relay. Despite having seen it more than a few times, it still amazed them. Remnant did not have space travel due to their only source of fuel losing power the farther from the surface it got. Joker smirked as he saw their expressions out of the corner of his eye. Ruby watched as his hands practically danced across the controls, bringing the Normandy safely into the system and gliding smoothly towards the orange-brown desert planet of Tuchanka. As they glided along, they saw the planet seemed to be very dry, no oceans were seen from wha Yang and Ruby could tell.

 _"Yang, Ruby, meet Grunt, Mordin, and myself in the shuttle bay, we're going down tot he surface."_ Yang and Ruby nodded and left the cockpit before riding down the elevator towards the 5th level. When they exited the elevator, John, Grunt, and Mordin were standing near the shuttle and they made their way over, and Yang waved to Mordin,

"Hey Mordin, what made you decide to come along?" Mordin looked at Yang,

"Ah, Yang, Ruby. Yes, my former apprentice has gone missing, last seen outside Urdnot clan territory. Worried for his safety." Yang and Ruby nodded as the five loaded up onto the ship. The hanger door opened and the shuttle lifted off and flew through the opening and a few thousand meters above Tuchanka's surface. They made their decent and was soon making their way into what was identified as Urdnot clan territory. As they flew, Yang and Ruby noticed the state of the planet. Ruby was speechless as they saw the ruins of the once great civilization of the Krogans. Yang shook her head,

"Damn, this place looks like shit went down." Grunt grunted,

"Yea, it did." Mordin cleared his throat and took over,

"Krogans started Nuclear War. The launched Nuclear weapons devastated the planet's surface with radiation. Until my kind came and uplifted the Krogan for their might and resillience, to help fight in the Rachni Wars." Grunt looked away with a huff. Ruby frowned as well, responding to Mordin,

"Yea, and you repaid them by unleashing a sterility plague." Yang blinked and frowned at Mordin,

"Statistics and projections showed Krogan overtaking galaxy within a few generations. Needed to slow down their birthrate, otherwise they would have overwhelmed-" Ruby interrupted,

"You didn't slow down their birthrate, you nearly reversed it entirely, ensuring the extinction of their race. You know Krogan are a battle-loving race, that is the reason they evolved to breed so largely, because they kill themselves more than any plague, virus, or animal does. You can't simply change evolution because you feel threatened. If you had negotiated and possibly gave them worlds in unexplored sectors of space, they might've been more cooperative and you could have convinced them to slow down their reproduction in a peaceful manner." Mordin looked at Ruby and shook his head,

"There would've been no time to do such things. The Krogan spread without any signs of halting and even began taking over worlds to use as their new homes, even habitated worlds."

"That's why you call the leaders and have them seek out planets that they don't have to force their way onto, tell them that only cowards do what they did and I am sure that they would have listened. For guys like that, you have to play on their pride to get them to do anything, if you attack them, you only make an enemy, and that does NOT help with peace." Yang looked at Grunt, who was clenching his fists as Ruby and Mordin argued when they heard a shout,

"ENOUGH!" everyone turned to look at Grunt,

"Stop arguing about something that can't be changed! This situation happened, deal with it! We are, so stop showing pity, we don't need it!" Ruby frowned along with Yang who clenched a fist making Ruby look at her with her silver eye going steely,

"Yang... don't." Everyone turned and saw Yang's eyes were turning the slightest bit red and her fists had slight heatwaves rising from them. The shuttle shivered as they started landing in a port on the surface. The group got out and after going down the ramp towards the exit, they were approached by a few Krogan. The one in the lead, wearing silver armor and with a black forehead crest, spoke up first,

"The clan leader wants to speak with you. And keep your rutting pet on a short leash. Get him the Rite soon, or put him down." John raised an eyebrow,

"You know what's wrong with him? What he needs?" The Krogan waved his arm dismissively,

"There's nothing wrong with him. Just go speak with the clan leader." The Krogan moved out of the way as the door opened and the group looked at each other before making their way into the structure. They overheard several conversations of the Krogans desiring payback against the Turians and Salarians. Suddenly EDI came onto the comm link as they got near the door to the main chamber of the structure,

 _"Urdnot clan reports use weak encryptions. I see references to a captured salarian in the logs of the chief scout."_ Mordin commented on that, stating that either talking to the scout or the chief would assist him greatly. EDI continued,

 _"Also, I have been unable to access local medical records. I suggest asking the local clan leader for assisstance with Grunt's problem."_ Grunt looked at the rubble around the group,

"This is the great krogan homeworld? This is the land of kredak, shiagur, and Veeoll? This chunk of rock is barely worth standing on! Never thought I'd miss the tank." The group made their way up to where a group of krogan spoke, and a guard stopped them,

"Halt! You must wait till the clan leader summons you. He is... in talks." Everyone looked behind the guards and saw a krogan arguing with Urdnot Wrex of all krogan, as he listened with disinterest. Wrex, however, soon noticed John and stood up with his usual smirk,

"Shepard." The guard looked back and John looked at the guard inquizitively, as if asking 'good enough?'. John stepped forward and Wrex pushed the krogan who was talking out of the way a he and John shook hands,

"Shepard! My friend! You look well for dead, Shepard. Should've known the void couldn't hold you." John smirked,

"Looks like helping me destroy Saren and the geth has worked out for you. Glad we didn't have to kill each other on Virmire." Wrex laughed a bit before he started walking back a bit and turned to face John again,

"You made the rise of Urdnot possible. Virmire was the turning point for the krogan, though not everyone was happy about it. Destroying Saren's genophage cure freed us from his manipulations. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot." The Krogan Wrex was talking to spoke up,

"You abondoned many traditions to get your way. Dangerous." Wrex turned towards the krogan before headbutting him, getting a laugh from Yang. Wrex turned to the blonde human as she smirked,

"I like you already, big guy. You take shit from no one." Wrex smirked right back,

"Of course not. This would've been a bigger pain in my ass if I did." Yang smirked,

"Yang Xiao Long, so you're Urdnot Wrex, Johnny boy here told me about you. Toughest bastard he'd ever met." Wrex laughed,

"Not tougher than Shepard, he came back from the void to do what he does best." Wrex faced John as he sat down in his carved throne,

"Now Shepard, what brings you here? How's the Normandy?" John grimaced,

"Destroyed in the Collector surprise attack. Along with me being spaced." Wrex smirked,

"Well, you look good. Ah, the benefits of a redundant nervous system." Ruby tilted her head,

"Uh, humans don't have those." Wrex looked at the woman with the cloak then back at John,

"I see. Must've hurt like hell, then. But you're standing here, and you've got a strong new ship. Takes me back to the old days. Us against the unknown, killing it with big guns. Good times." Yang chuckled,

"Sounds like a blast, we should swap war stories when we get the chance." Wrex looked at Yang,

"So who are you and the other human?" Ruby stopped Yang as she opened her mouth to speak and she stepped forward,

"We're humans, similar to John and the rest of humanity, but we don't originate from Earth." Wrex raised an eyebrow,

"Where are you from then?"

"Remnant." Wrex raised an eye ridge,

"Never heard of it." Ruby nodded,

"And we had never heard of a krogan until about a month or so ago. My team arrived here through... unusual circumstances." Wrex raised an eyebrow and chuckled,

"You always attract the strangest of people, Shepard." John and Wrex began discussing the plans Wrex had for uniting the Krogan clans. How the leaders of the female clans had agreed to make a neutral ground and various ally clans would support and protect clan Urdnot and the neutral grounds. Of course this had many traditionalists eager to try and remove Wrex from power, but so far, Wrex discribed the situation as: 'Better than I feared, Worse than I hoped'. John nodded and offered a wish of good fortune for Wrex's plan, but wished to return to his business. John pointed towards Grunt,

"I have a krogan on my crew. Something is wrong, and we need to know if he needs treatment or something else." Wrex leaned forward as Grunt stepped up into clear view. Wrex thought for a moment, then spoke,

"Where are you from, whelp? Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what is expected of you?" Grunt shook his head,

"I have no clan. I was tank-bred by warlord Okeer. My line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur-" He was interrupted by the krogan from before, Gatatog Uvenk,

"You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe!" Grunt simply ignored him,

"I am pure krogan. You should be in awe." Wrex took a contemplative expression,

"Okeer is a very old name. A very hated name." Wrex stood up as Grunt responded,

"He is dead." Wrex looked Grunt in the eyes,

"Of course. You're with Shepard. How could he be alive?" John interrupted,

"I need Grunt back up to speed. Is something wrong with him?" Wrex shook his head,

"There's nothing wrong with him. He is becoming a full adult." Ruby snapped her fingers,

"Ah, so he's basically a teen turning into an adult?" Mordin nodded and spoke in agreement,

"Puberty ritual. Common among species with hormone-driven reproductive urges." Wrex waved off Mordin,

"I don't care what aliens call it. Krogan undergo the Rite of Passage." Uvenk stomped forward,

"Too far, Wrex! Your clan may rule, but this thing is not krogan." Uvenk stormed away and Wrex shook his head,

"Idiot. So, Grunt? Do you wish to stand with Urdnot?" John raised an eyebrow,

"What does the Rite of Passage require?" Wrex shook his head slightly,

"Not for me to say, Shepard. The shaman will discuss that." John nodded and looked at Grunt,

"This is his choice." Grunt turned and looked around over the camp Wrex was staying in before he turned around,

"It is in my blood. It is what I am for." Wrex, obviously impressed, smirked,

"Good boy. Speak with the shaman. He's over on the second level. Give him a good show, and he'll set you on the path... You too Shepard. How many times have you stepped in a mess for your crew, hmm?" Wrex went back up to his seat after pointing out the way to the second level where the shaman was. John nodded and the group left and headed up the stairs. They passed a pair of krogans arguing and threatening each other and another pair talking about some extranet special. When they made it to the shaman, Uvenk was already there arguing with the shaman. They walked up as the shaman responded to something Uvenk said,

"You go beyond yourself, Gatatog Uvenk! The Rites of Urdnot are dominant!" Uvenk shook his head and spoke up again,

"How do we know it will challenge him? He's unnatural! The beasts of the Rite could ignore him like a lump of plastic!" The shaman replied in a bored tone,

"They know blood, no matter the womb. Your barking doesn't help your case." Grunt stepped up beside John and spoke up,

"I'll speak for myself!" The shaman ignored Grunt's tone and stepped up to him giving a large sniff of the younger krogan,

"This is the tank-bred? It is very lifelike. Smells correctly as well. Your protests ring hollow, Uvenk." John spoke before Uvenk could,

"Urdnot Wrex has given us permission to seek clan status for Grunt." The shaman seemed amused,

"Permission. Hmph. That is good enough, if lacking in spirit." Uvenk shook his head in denial,

"If this must stand on ritual, then I invoke denial! My krantt stands against him! He has no one!" The shaman growls for a moment,

"My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?" John spoke up,

"We stand with Grunt as shipmates and comrades." Ruby and Yang frowned and looked at each other, they doubted that was what the shaman meant by 'krantt'. Which the shaman confirmed,

"Shipmates are not the same thing, but I grant you aliens your simple interpretations." Uvenk shook his head and glared at the group as Yang stepped forward, her expression blank as she stared at Uvenk,

"Aliens don't know strength! My followers are true krogan. Everything about Grunt is a lie." Yang stepped forward, grabbed Uvenk by the collar of his armor and slammed her head into Uvenk's in a headbutt that sent the Krogan back and caused him to land on his back. Uvenk stood up and touched his crest,

"D-did you just?!" Yang smirked and cracked her neck as her eyes turned red and her hair caught fire, much to every krogan's shock. Yang laughed softly,

"What's the matter, big guy? Embarrassed in front of your krantt by little me?"

"Yang, cut it out." Yang turned to Ruby and pouted, the flames in her hair dying out,

"Aw, c'mon Rubes, let me smack this little punk around a bit. I doubt he's any tougher than a young Arachne." Ruby rolled her eye,

"Please, a young Arachne would tear him apart, and we both know it. But we don't need to cause Wrex any more problems, he's got his hands full already, so cut it out." Yang drooped a bit,

"Aw, fine. You're lucky Uvenk, I was gonna-"

"Yang! Seriously, that's enough!" Yang winced slightly at Ruby's tone, it was serious so she nodded and went quiet. The shaman was surprised by the amount of authority the small human female had over the taller human female and smirked slightly before Uvenk growled,

"You have made a grave mistake, humans. I have other means to oppose this." The shaman turned as Uvenk walked away and faced the group fully,

"You have provoked them. Reason enough for me to like you. They're your problem now." John nodded and Grunt slammed his fists together as John spoke,

"We're ready. Let's do this." The shaman shook his head,

"One final detail, Grunt may have only three others at the most join him in this trial, to make it more fair. No point in allowing him to join if he allows so many to fight in his place, so choose who stays." Mordin stepped forward,

"I will remain here, seek information on my former apprentice. Most likely will have results upon your return." John nodded and looked at Yang, Ruby, and Grunt,

"Let's go." The three nodded as well as the shaman who led them to a large vehicle that took them to the arena for the Rite of Passage. Ruby and Yang were shocked at the sight of the ruined cities, but they got over it quickly as they had seen many towns and cities ruined on Remnant. After an hour and a half of travel, they arrived an climbed out. They followed the shaman up a tunnel as he began to speak,

"This is Tuchanka's most recent scar, the last surface city to fall in the rebellions. The keystone was at the heart. It has survived war and the passage of centuries. It endures- like the krogan." They exited the tunnel to see a massive structure on three building-sized legs with some sort of device in the center, similar to a sort of drill or maybe a pump, the humans were unable to tell. The shaman continued,

"If you wish to join Clan Urdnot, you must contemplate the keystone and it's trials." Grunt looked at the shaman,

"What will happen?"

"Who knows? You must adapt. You must thrive, no matter the situation. Any true korgan will." The five walked into the arena below and the ramp lifted to block the return passage, A light on the side of the ramp lit up green and Grunt shouted over the howling wind,

"Hit the Keystone Shepard, let's get this over with." John nodded as Ruby and Yang extended their weapons, Ruby's only as far as Sniper-form, and she flicked a skitch that extended the barrel so it looked more like a regular sniper rifle minus the over-sized center. Yang raised an eyebrow,

"Goin' up, sis?" Ruby nodded and Yang cupped her hands and kneeled. Ruby put one foot into the platform made from Yang's hands and Yang tossed Ruby high into the air where she used her semblance to propell herself to one of the towers in the large arena. John hit the switch as this happened and the keystone activated. And a large pillar in the center rose up showing Yang, Ruby, and John it's purpose, the strike the ground as an intercom went on,

 _"First the krogan conquered Tuchanka... and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold."_ Suddenly a pack of wild varren ran from the wasteland around them and into the arena where Ruby watched as Yang, John, and Grunt began to systematically kill them. Ruby smirked as she shot one that was sneaking up on John, making him turn and, after seeing the dead Varren, wave at Ruby before he shot one with a Pull before it was shot and killed.

Yang, with her fire-coated fists tore apart and beat down several Varren. Grunt was by her side as he literally picked up one Varren and ripped it in half. Yang smirked as she tossed the last Varren into the air and everyone shot it, filling it with holes. Soon the varren stopped their assult and John and Ruby looked at each other and nodded before John walked over to the switch again and hit it once more activating the keystone and the intercom,

 _"Then the krogan were lifted to the stas to destroy the fears of a galaxy, an enemy only we could chase to their lair."_ Soon large insect-like creatures called Kilxen came into the arena, dropped off by giant flying creatures, presumably their mother. The insects exploded upon their death, making them very dangerous. Everyone minus Ruby focused on them, Ruby was focusing on the large alien creatures. The creatures were durable, but no more so than a Deathstalker, which, while a challenge, still would fall before Crescent Rose's bullets. In the end, Ruby had shot four out of the seven creatures that dropped the Kilxen. Ruby smirked before she noticed no more were coming and looked up at the angle of the sun. Having looked up the time it took for specific amounts of time to pass compared to Remnant, she saw about 10 minutes had passed since they arrived at the arena for the Rite of Ppassage for Grunt. Suddenly the intercom came on again as the Keystone activated once more,

 _"Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is survival."_ The structure dropped the large pillar and struck the ground when everyone felt a tremor. Grunt spoke up over he wind,

"Feel that? Everything is.. shaking. I am ready!" Suddenly two blue tendrils rose from the ground, Yang frowned and John motioned everyone to get into cover, minus Ruby who remained in place. Ruby felt something was off, as the ground shook even more, causing the tendrils to sway even more as John shot it. Suddenly the tendrils retracted and soon an enormous brown and blue creature rose, with a gaping mouth and two large apendages brandishing large claws rose up and roared at them. However, something happened. The creature went quiet and looked to the side as a tremor came again and suddenly a trail was seen in the earth as sand was tossed in the air when it slammed into the Thresher Maw from underground and made it screech in pain as it was dragged under, it's blood shooting up from the hole it left as it was devoured. Ruby felt a shiver go up her spine and narrowed her eyes,

"YANG!" Yang looked up as Ruby pointed and to her shock, a second Thresher revealed itself. Only this one was different. It was solid black with ivory plates that had crimson swirls and streaks decorating it. The inside of the gaping mouth was blood red and it had four large clawed apendages and it's tongue was hanging low as it roared. But what really shocked them was the pits in the body that dripped with a black substance. Yang growled as Ruby shouted,

"Grimm Breeder!" John and Grunt looked up in confusion as a massive drop of some black substance fell and hit the ground, when suddenly a Grimm Varren rose from the liquid. Yang clenched her fists,

"Ruby! Do we do it?" Ruby looked at Yang and contemplated for a moment, a Breeder-class Grim could only be created, never born from another Breeder, and only one being could create one. The witch and of Ozpin rival in power, Salem. Ruby cursed to herself and jumped down, landing next to everyone,

"John, what is the weakness for this thing? It is based on the Thresher Maw itself, so how do you kill those?" John put his sniper away and pulled a large weapon off his back,

"Lots of bullets to the face, particularly around the mouth. Aim for the acid sacks in its mouth."

"RUBY! We might have to do it, especially if SHE is here. We both know that that is the only way a Breeder, especially one of an alien, is created." Ruby looked down as John and Grunt began shooting the Thresher Grimm. Ruby looked at Yang and nodded at her,

"You can. We can play it off as you overcharging your semblance." Yang frowned and narrowed her eyes,

"Why hide it after this? We NEED to stop Salem." John looked out of the corner of his eye at Yang and Ruby quietly arguing when Ruby sighed and seemed to begrudgingly agree. Yang nodded and stepped out of cover, making John call out to her,

"YANG, what're you doing?!" Yang looked back at John and smirked before she turned towards the giant Grimm and suddenly her eyes exploded into a blaze of flames and her hair nearly turned into fire with how much there was. John was in shock at the power Yang had and Yang ran forward before throwing her arms out and streams of fire shot out, bathing the Grimm in golden flames. Grunt growled as his skin took on a silver-tone and he charged forward, shouting,

"I AM KROGAN!" Yang heard and when Grunt got near, Yang grabbed him and tossed him at the Grimm, where Gruntslammed into it, knocking it down, and began to run up the length of it's neck and start shooting it's mouth. The creature started spitting black acid that melted through the ground much faster than regular Thresher Maw acid. Ruby swapped cartridges in her Crescent Rose and Shot explosive shots at the Grimm. John aimed his rocket launcher at the Grimm and fired off rocket after rocket intot he Grimm as Yang launched herself into the air and began to punch and melt into the creature. She then remembered what John said and smirked as she dove into it's mouth and saw them. The twin acid sacks on it's inner cheeks. She held a single hand up to stop the Grimm from biting down on her and she then melted the sacks, causing the acid to spill into it's mouth and down it's throat, effectively killing it. Yang smirked as she leapt out and landed next to Grunt who was handed the rocket launcher by John. John simply smirked as Yang landed next to them, her eyes and hair returning to normal, and he told Grunt,

"Go ahead and finish it off. This is YOUR trial after all." Grunt smirked and nodded, before aiming and shooting the rocket into the Thresher's gaping mouth as it tried sitting up, causing it's head to explode. Ruby and Yang nodded as the Grimm began dissolving. Grunt laughed and tossed the rocket launcher back to John, who smirked and put it on his back again. John looked at Yang and Ruby, who were discussing something quietly, but fiercely. John narrowed his eyes as he heard Yang's and Ruby's argument before,

'What is it Ruby wants to stay hidden, and who is Salem?"

 **Two hours later, at the main camp of Clan Urdnot...**

Grunt walked up to the shaman along with John, Yang, and Ruby. The shaman held his arms out,

"You have passed the Rite of Passage, earning the honor of clan and name. Many survive, but you survived a creature that killed a thresher maw, that is a triumph equal to Urdnot Wrex, who killed a Thresher when he was younger than the age you appear to be. Your names shall live in glory." Grunt kneeled before the shaman and bowed his head,

"Grunt, you are Urdnot. You may now own property, join the army, and apply to serve under a battlemaster." Grunt responded instantly,

"Shepard is my battlemaster. He has no match." The shaman nodded before motioning Grunt to stand,

"Understood. Congratulations, Urdnot Grunt. Accept this token from Fortack. His weapons are the finest we have." Grunt nodded as John stepped forward,

"We should go." The shaman nodded,

"May your foes be strong enough to keep you sharp." John nodded as the group left and met up with Mordin who was about to begin sharing his findings before John stopped him,

"I'm sorry Mordin, my team and I need to rest, once we do, we will seek out your former apprentice. In the mean time, Yang, Ruby! I need to speak with you two as well as Weiss and Blake when you have a moment." Ruby and Yang exchanged glances and Yang nodded, making Ruby sigh before she nodded as well,

"Very well, John. We'll be there whenever you need us." John nodded as they got into the shuttle and it took off. Taking the group back to the Normandy.

* * *

 **Well, there's Chapter 12, I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm sure many of you think the fight was short, but that was for a reason. The revelation of the Maidens. Next chapter, team RWBY will be confronted by John about their abilities and then they will confront Wrex about the Grimm attacks and the Mordin Loyalty mission will get underway. Also, why not comment some ideas for the name of the Thresher Grimm, and possible future Grimm ideas. Now, once again, I hope you all enjoyed this so far, and I'll see you all in the next chapter,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Hey readers, sorry for the late update, my keyboard got a bit of water damage so the 3, E, D, and C keys had stopped working. And it is surprising how many words use those specific keys. I already typed 22 of them(now 23). Also, I recently got into a wreck so I've been busy with getting that taken care of (niether of us were hurt, thankfully). Anyways, I have made a schedule on the order in which I will update my stories:**

1) RWBY: The Journey Home(this story)

2) Celestial Tale(UndertalexFairyTail)

3) Orange Spark and Black Wings of Konoha[OSBW for the sake of simplicity from now on](NarutoxSkyrim)

4) Naruto's Fate(Naruto)

5) Dragonborn of Konoha(NarutoxSkyrim)

 **This is the update order/schedule/whatever you want to call it. I will not be changing it so for those of you waiting on my other stories, please remain patient and I will get to the rest as quickly as possible. If you feel I am taking too long with these, I am sorry, perhaps you can try looking elsewhere until I finally get around to it.**

 **"Harbinger"**

 _"Comms/EDI speaking"_

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

John sat in the Medical Bay facing team RWBY. Weiss and Blake had been informed of what happenedand they realized that they had no choice but to accept that the secret was out, at least to John. John had scanned the room for recording and listening devices and had told EDI to not record anything in the room either. Yang sighed and sat on one of the beds next to Weiss while Blake and Ruby discussed what the should and shouldn't tell. Ruby sighed and looked at John,

"So what is it you needed to talk about first, John?" John sighed,

"I have three major questions for now, others may come along laterthough, but for now, just three. First, What was that power that Yang used? Second, What is it you are hiding? And finally, who is Salem?" Yang stood up,

"I'll tell you what I see, Remnant is special as we are the only planet, at least as far as we are aware, to have Dust and Semblences. But us four, out of the millions of human and faunus on the planet, are even more unique than them. Our powers, are gifts from an old wizard centuries ago. This wizard gave 4 young women gifts of magic after they showed him the joys of the world. These four soon came to be known as the Maidens of the Seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, and the eldest sister, Autumn. Their magic was specifically suited for the seasons which they were named after." Ruby took over from this point,

"However, the power was also somewhat self-aware. When a maiden passed away, the power went to choose a new host. It is decided through a set of rules. First, the bearer must be female, and second, the bearer must be young enough to hold onto the power for several years. Now, normally, the power chooses whoever is the last person who is in the Maiden's thoughts, unless the person is male or is an elderly woman. If that is the case, then the power will randomly choose it's next host, like it did with Yang, and Weiss. I gained mine from my mother, Summer Rose." John looked at Blake,

"And what about Blake?" Blake's eyes gained a hard glint,

"She tore it out of Cinder's body, almost literally by hand." John blinked in surprise,

"How did she do that?" Ruby looked at Blake and back at John,

"Well, the thing is, Cinder wasn't a true Maiden to begin with, she stole the power from the previous Fall Maiden, Blake used the same method to take the power from her, but what that method was, and will forever, remain sealed away so no one else would use it. Now, the reason I was axious to hide this was because of THAT very reason. The power always goes to the last person in the thoughts of the fallen Maidens, excluding the elderly and males. And typically the last person someone who is attacked thinks about is the one who attacked them. So, many power hungry or pure hearted women tried and some succeeded in gaining their power, and they went down in legends as terrible villans or for the pure ones as kind guardians. But to protect the Maidens, who were known worldwide, a group was formed that hid them away to protect them until the faded into myth and legend." John took this in and nodded. It made sense, to protect these people, these young women, from those who would steal their power, they would need to be kept secret until the time was right to be revealed again. And then they would probably need to fade back into mythology once again afterwards. John spoke his speculations towards Ruby, who nodded,

"That's right. Now about Salem... She was the rival in magical power to the wizard. But while the wizard grew to care for the world and the people in it, Salem, corrupted by darkness, grew to hate all who bare the light of Aura. She used her hatred with her magic to form the first Creatures of Grimm. Colossal titans that the first Huntsman, Monty Oum, defeated and sealed away before appointing specific Huntsmen and Huntresses to guard over the seals. However, these titanic Grimm altered the nature of many animals, turning them into many minor Grimm we see today. Salem, in rage of her beasts being sealed away, captured several animals from across the planet and infected them and transformed them into large Breeder-class Grimm that birthed minor and larger Grimm from their own blood which would drop from pits in their skin, like you saw with that... that Thresher Grimm. What should we call it?" John took a thinking pose,

"Perhaps Klendathan?" Ruby looked at the rest of her team who nodded. Ruby turned back to John and nodded,

"Alright, so where were we... Ah, yes. So Salem hid herself away after nearly being defeated by Monty when she confronted him with her new Grimm. She managed to mortally wound him, but he managed to awaken the first Semblance, though no one knows what it was." John nodded. Ruby looked over at Weiss,

"Did I leave anything out?" Weiss thought for a moment before shaking her head,

"No, I don't believe you did." Ruby nodded at her partner and then at John,who returned it. John thought for a moment and activated him Omnitool,

"Ok, we'll head down to the surface tomorrow, so everyone get some rest. Ruby, Blake, you two are coming with Mordin and myself to help find this missing Salrian. Since we may be going into the territory of another clan, we'll need stealth for this, got it?" Ruby and Blake both nodded and Ruby looked at Weiss, who had a slight pout,

"Sorry Weiss, I'm sure the next mission will involve you." Weiss simply turned away with a "Hmph!" making Ruby sweatdrop and the group left. As they entered the hallway, Blake turned and grabbed something. This something uncloaked revealing it to be a someone, to be specific, the petite Kasumi, who pouted slightly as Blake held her arm,

"Aw, so close." Blake smirked, which made Ruby, who was watching, feel a bit warm, particularly around her face,

"Not even close Kasumi. Maybe next time you'll be able to catch my Shadow." The Blake that grabbed Kasumi's arm suddenly vanished and a long katana blade slid into view from behind the kleptomaniac. Kasumi looked surprised and turned to see a smirking Blake standing behind her. Blake pulled the blade away from Kasumi and sheathed it,

"Next time, try and make sure you're quiet enough that my second pair of ears don't hear you. And I'm not talking about my cat ears." Kasumi blinked as Blake pointed at a small metal bolt by Kasumi's foot. Kasumi mentally cursed herself for not paying attention, having been to absorbed with the thought of finally getting through Blake's seemingly impentetrable guard. Kasumi sighed and nodded with a slight grin,

"Maybe next time." Kasumi walked away, most likely to stalk Jacob again. Blake smirked a bit more and Ruby walked away a bit faster, much to Yang's amusement and Blake's confusion. Yang had noticed Ruby's blush before the poor woman walked off, and Blake was unaware of it, but she too blushed when she watched Ruby walk off.

'Oh, teasing these two is gonna be soooo much fun!'

 **The next day...**

John, Blake, Mordin and Ruby were all in the Kodiak drop shuttle as it headed down towards the planet surface. Mordin had talked to the head of the scouts about information on the missing Salarian. Apparently he was sighted within the territory of a rival clan, just a few miles away from Urdnot territory. According to the chief scout, the Blood Pack, ran by Clan Weyrloc, were the ones to have taken the Salarian. Clan Weyrloc had also taken one of the chief's scouts as well when he was sent to investigate. As they came into the home territory of the Urdnot Clan, they were given permission to use on of the tomkah to make their way to Weyrloc territory. As they drove Blake and Ruby were sitting next to each other, across from Mordin. Ruby was using her Omnitool to scan the vehicle out of fascination while Blake read a book on her Scroll. Mordin was checking his weapons as they were driven to the edge of Urdnot territory. Soon, however, they arrived at their destination and climbed out.

They pulled out their weapons and looked around, making sure there was going to be no ambush. Fortunately there was none. The group exited the small building the tomkah had stopped in and came into a large area that was riddled with concrete, parts of machines, ships, and just large pieces of scrap, as well as some cover that was clearly there in case a fire fight started. As the group rounded the corner they came across a group of Klixen. However the large insect-like creatures were easily dealt with and the continued on through a gap in a large wall, but here they encountered Varren, a sign of Blood Pack members being in the area, which was proven correct when several Vorcha made an appearance as they crossed the bridge towards the Weyrloc clan home base. Along the way, John found some parts from a fallen truck and grabbed it. After clearing the area of Vorcha and a Krogan, the group made their way into the Weyrloc base, which Mordin commented was a Krogan hospital, which was built to be extremely durable.

As the group made their way in and down the stairs, they came across a human corpse, making Mordin step forward,

"That body. Human. Need to take a look... Sores, tumors, ligatures showing restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites. Test Subject. Victim of experimentation." John frowned,

"I don't suppose there's anyway to tell who the poor bastard was?" Mordin shook his head once,

"No tattoos or ID. Maybe slave or prisoner. Maybe merc or pirate. Irrelevant now. Clearly part of krogan tests to cure genophage. Humans useful as test subjects. Genetically diverse. Enables exploration of treatment modalities." Ruby narrowed her eyes,

"Now we have two reasons to shut this place down." Mordin stood up,

"Focus on Maelon. Too late to help the dead." the rest of the group nodded held their weapons close, Crescent Rose in it's compact Rifle form and Gambol Shroud in it's Pistol/Kusarigama form. Soon they came across a door and after it opened, they walked into a room with an overhang. They looked up as the door on the overhang opened and three Krogan walked in, two wearing black armor, and one, the leader of the three, in white armor. The one in white spoke as they entered the room,

"I am the speaker for Clan Weyrloc, offworlders. You have shed our blood. By rights, you should be dead already. But Weyrloc Guld, the Chief of Chiefs, hasordered that you be given leave to flee and spread message of out coming." John looked at the krogan,

"Krogans don't generally let people go. What does Clan Weyrloc have planned?" The krogan stepped closer to the railing of the overhang,

"If you walk away now, you can tell your children that you saw Clan Weyrloc before out Blood Pack conquered the stars. You think the Urdnot impressive? They are pitiful. Weyrloc Guld will destroy them! The salarian will cure the genophage and CLan Weyrloc will spread across the galaxy in a sea of blood!" Mordin tapped his chin and muttered to himself,

"Appears they discovered Maelon's work. Unfortunate." John narrowed his eyes at the krogan while Ruby flicked a switch to extend the barrel of her weapon again,

"If you care about the future of Clan Weyrloc, you'll hand over Maelon. Now." Ruby lifted the large sniper rifle and prepared to aim when this became hostile. It was then Ruby noticed something underneath the platform the krogan stood on and smirked as she held her sniper aimed below the krogan as if she wasn't going to shoot them, but in reality she was aiming at something else, without using her scope as the krogan began pacing and ranting,

"When we cure the genophage, Weyrloc Guld will rule all krogan! The Krogan Rebellions wil-" He went silent as Ruby fired at the explosive barrel underneath the platform, killing the three Krogan above as it went off and severalVorcha and Krogan entered the room from their right above and they got into cover and fired onto them. They easily dispatched them though, especially when Ruby tossed Blake a clip with Burn Dust in it. Blake smirked and used her Shadow to go through the crate **(A/N: If you notice in the series when Blake uses her semblance, she seems to phase through people or objects occasionally, so I decided to go with it for this story.)** much to the surprise of the krogans as Blake began firing at them. However, Blake's true plan came to light when she lept up to the door the krogan were coming through and leapt back, leaving a Burn Shadow that exploded when the krogan and Vorcha ran into it. Ruby smirked at her as did John and Mordin. The group rand up the stairs, applying some medigel and grabbing more from a medigel station on the stairway. As they made their way through the door, Mordin sniffed the air quietly,

"Labs likely through smell antiseptic,hint of deadflesh." Blake nodded with a frown,

"I smell it too." Ruby and John grimaced as they continued onward. The group entered the medical lab and John ordered them to fan out and search for clues and information. Mordin found an active data terminal and he and John walked over to it as Mording tried gaining access. Soon he was into the system and began looking through it,

"Genetic Sequences. Hormone mutagens still steady. Protein chains, live tissue, cloned tissue. Very throrough. Standard treatment vectors. Avoiding scorched-earth immunosuppressants to alterhormone levels. Good. Hate to see that." Ruby and Blake walked up and Blake frowned,

"Most people wouldn't be so casual about developing asterility plague, Mordin." Mordin shook his head,

"Not developing. Modifying. Much more within confines of existing genophage. A hundred times the complexity. Errors unacceptable. Could cause total sterility, malignant tumors. Could even reduce effectiveness. Worse than doing nothing. Had to keep krogan population stable. One in one thousand. Perfect target, optimal growth. Like gardening." John frowned,

"Pretty it up however 're talking about murdering millions." Ruby nodded,

"Sounds too much like the White Fang near the start of the War. Killing the humans to 'free' the Faunus." Mordin shook his head,

"No. Murdered no one. Altered fertility, prevented fetal development of nervous system. Have killed many. With many methods. Gunfire, knives, drugs, tech attacks, once with farming equipment. But not with medicine." John frowned and mentally shook his head,

"We're not going to find Maelon standing around. Come on." The group explored a bit more until they found a deceased krogan, female according to Mordin. What surprised them was that she was a volunteer, most likely for the genophage cure. Mordin went on explaining how he felt guilt on this, how he felt responsible, but he buried it underneath logic to save himself from the pain on the plague's purpose, how he used the logic to keep his morality in check. Ruby and Blake honestly felt pity for the salarian but hid it well as Mordin and John continued talking. Though the two inhabitants of Remnant could tell that John had shaken Mordin's faith in his logical beliefs for the genophage. The group decided to continue on after that, though there was an uncomfortable silence among them now.

They made their way out of the lab and John saw two ways to go,an open door on the left and a closed door on the right. He decided to see what was in the right door. When it opened, he saw two krogan in a small room, one dead and one alive. John walked in and the living krogan looked up,

"You killed the Blood Pack guards!" Mordin breathed in sharply,

"Not Blood Pack, not member of Clan Weyrloc. Wrong clan markings." The krogan spoke up immediately,

"I'm an Irdnot scout. Weyrloc guards got me. Brought me here." Modrin spoke up,

"Chief scout told us to keep an eye out for you. Bring you back if possible." The krogan shook his head,

"I can't. The Weyrloc did things to me. Drugs. Injections. Said I was sacrificing for the good of all krogan. Experiments to cure the genophage. Everything's blurry. Hard to think. Have to stay." John looked at Mordin,

"Mordin, can you get him back on his feet? Stim, maybe? Something to bolster his immune system?" The krogan shook his head,

"You don't understand, I'm not too sick to leave. I have to stay. They're curing the genophage. They're going to make it all better! They have to keep doing the tests!" Ruby frowned, it appears the krogan was indoctrinated into believing the Weyrloc ways. Blake and Mordin seemed to agree if the looks on their faces were anything to go by. Blake stepped forward,drawing the Krogan's attention to her,

"Why do you want the tests to keep going?" The krogan shook his head and looked down,

"This is my fault. I got caught. Wasn't strong enough, not good enough. This is the best I can do. This is all I can do. I'm not big enough to have a real shot with the females. I'll never have kids of my own. But if I help undo the genophage, then I mattered!" Blake simply blinked,

"Millions of children will be born, Weyrloc children. They plan to destroy the other clans, including Clan Urdnot."The krogan looked up in surprise,

"But...no. No, they said I was helping Urdnot!" John stepped forward,

"If you want to help Urdnot, you need to get back there."Ruby spoke up this time with a sly smirk on her face,

"But it would take a real tough guy to make it back to camp injured, and the ladies do like tough guys." The krogan grunted a bit,

"I can do it!" John scoffed a bit,

"You? She said a tough guy, not some scout wimpering like a quarian with a belly ache." The krogan grunted a bit more and stood up,

"I can do it! I'm up! And I'm going to the female camp!" John smirked,

"Damn right you are. Get back there and show them what your worth! Go, go!" The krogan let out a primal yell before he stomped off quickly towards the exit. Ruby and Blake suddenly started laughing quietly once the krogan was gone. The group moved on as Mordin complimented John, Ruby, and Blake. As they moved on, EDI contacted them,

 _"Shepard. I'm detecting crates ahead that are holding unstable materials. A misplaced shot could cause a significant explosion."_ Ruby spoke up after that,

"Or a well placed shot." Mordin nodded,

"Explosives usefal. Burn through krogan armor." They opened the door to see a room split in two by a chasm with a few bridges connecting the two sides. On the opposite sides were a few more krogan and vorcha. they began going through and attacking, occasionally shooting an explosive container to weaken or kill their enemies. The group made their way to the opposite corner and found a ramp to the lower level. They went down but Ruby and John stayed up to take up sniping positions from the upper levels. Blake and Mordin went in and with their covering fire from Ruby and John, were able to easily wipe out many vorcha and krogan, but soon rhey came across their greatest threat in the form of Weyrloc Guld. This krogan was bigger than the rest and his armor had extra shielding for more protection. However, in a short period of time, he was easily taken out by the four of them.

The group rested for a moment before straightening out and moving on. The ran down a few flights of stairs before making it to a door. John hacked a nearby terminal while the group looked around. They opened the door and saw a salarian, most likely Maelon, unharmed, and working on a holographic screen. Mordin was wide-eyed as he spoke,

"Maelon. Alive. Unharmed. No signs of restraint. No evidence of torture. Don't understand." Maelon looked up from the console,

"For such a smart man, Professor, you always had trouble seeing evidence that disagreed with your preconceptions. How long will it take you to admit that I'm here because I wish to be here?" Blake spoke up,

"He was never kidnapped, he volunteered to work with Clan Weyrloc." Maelon nodded, but Mordin shook his head,

"Impossible. Whole team agreed! Project necessary!" Maelon shook his head,

"How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Solus? I was your student! I looked up to you!"

"Experiments preformed here. Live subjects! Prisoners! Torture and executions. Your doing?"

"We've already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a bit more to put things right, I can deal with that." John stepped forward,

"You honestly thing the experiments you did here are justified?" Maelon gestured towards Mordin,

"We commited cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified! The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster." John looked at Mordin,

"Mordin, did you ever preform experiments like this?" Mordin shook his head,

"No. Never taught you this Maelon." maelon shookhis head as well,

So your hands are clean! What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions! You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we said, Professor. The only way I know how." Ruby interrupted,

"'The end justifies the means'? That's a load of shit. The end is the means by which you accomplish it!" John nodded as Maelon stopped and looked at the one eyed woman. John looked at Mordin,

"Maelon clearly doesn't need rescuing. What do you want to do?" Mordin looked down,

"Have to end this." Maelon pulled out a pistol making Ruby and Blake aim their weapons at Maelon, who spoke,

"You can't face the truth, can you? Can't admit that your brilliant mind led you to commit an atrocity!" Maelon aimed at Blake, then at Ruby, and was about to aim at John when Mordin's Aura suddenly activated and he suddenly appeared in front of Maelon in an orange and white blur before punching him, and pulling his SMG out to aim at Maelon,

"Unacceptable experiments. Unacceptable goals. Won't change. Have to kill you." Ruby grabbed Mordin's arm and pulled back, moving the gun away from Maelon,

"Mordin, stop! You're not a murderer. Don't do this!" Mordin shook his head as he snapped out his his rage,

"No. Not a murderer. Thank you, Ms. Rose." Mordin stepped back as Ruby let go of him, and sighed before everyone looked at Mordin,

"Finished, Maelon. Get out. No Weyrloc left. Project over."

"Where am I supposed to go?!" Mordin shook his head,

"Don't know, try Omega, could use another clinic." Maelon frowned and turned to leave,

"The krogan didn't deserve what we did to them, Professor. The genophage needs to end." Mordin shook his head and began working on the console, John convincing him to keep the data, in case he ever changed his mind about the cure. Mordin nodded and collected all pieces of information before the group left the room and made their way back to the tomkah to drive back to the Urdnot clan home. John went up to Urdnot Wrex to say farewell, though he did ask if Wrex wished to come with them, unfortunately Wrex was needed on Tuchanka to keep his followers in line. John nodded in understanding and the group left for the Kodiak shuttle.

 **On the Normandy...**

John walked with Mordin back to his lab whileBlake and Ruby were in the elevator heading for the dining area of the ship. When the elevator door opened, Yang was standing there and smirked when she saw Blake and Ruby,

"Aw, is my partner taking my little sis to dinner? Well, be sure to bring her back by 11, got it Blakey?" Yang winked at the blushing forms of Ruby and Blake as they rushed past her before Yang had to hold into the wall to stand up from laughing so hard at their reaction. Weiss walked past and smacked her head again... And soon after was on the floor holding her aching hand... again. Suddenly the elevator opened again and John walked out and went into the main battery where he began talking to Garrus. Though Yang and Weiss didn't know why he went in there, as the door closed before they could properly hear what was being said. When the door did shut, the two looked at each other in confusion before shrugging it off and going about their business.

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter 13. Once again, I am terribly sorry that I took so long to update this. I promise to do my best to update all of my stories more frequently, it's just difficult with life stuff like work and getting my vehicle worked on, and a bit of procrastination on my part. Now, as you saw above, I have a schedule with my stories, so don't bother trying to convince me to alter it, if I do it's because I found more inspiration for whatever story it is than whatever story I was SUPPOSED to be working on, and my schedule will change to suit that particular event. So I hope you enjoyed the story, and I'll see you all in the next chapter,**

 **Darkus_Cyril**


End file.
